Academia.eduAcademia.edu

Harm Reduction

description8,996 papers
group25,657 followers
lightbulbAbout this topic
Harm reduction is a public health strategy aimed at minimizing the negative health, social, and legal impacts associated with drug use and other high-risk behaviors. It focuses on practical interventions and policies that prioritize the well-being of individuals and communities, promoting safer practices rather than solely aiming for abstinence.
lightbulbAbout this topic
Harm reduction is a public health strategy aimed at minimizing the negative health, social, and legal impacts associated with drug use and other high-risk behaviors. It focuses on practical interventions and policies that prioritize the well-being of individuals and communities, promoting safer practices rather than solely aiming for abstinence.

Key research themes

1. How do harm reduction policies and community-led initiatives shape the accessibility and effectiveness of harm reduction services?

This theme investigates the development, variation, and adequacy of harm reduction policies and explores community-driven, peer-led initiatives that expand harm reduction beyond traditional health services. It addresses how policy frameworks either enable or hinder service accessibility, and how grassroots groups and online communities contribute to harm reduction knowledge dissemination and practice, emphasizing inclusivity and responsiveness to specific user needs. Understanding these factors is critical to improving service reach and tailoring harm reduction strategies to diverse populations.

Key finding: This paper provides a systematic content analysis of 54 Canadian provincial and territorial harm reduction policies up to 2015, revealing high variability in policy quality and commitment to internationally recognized harm... Read more
Key finding: Focusing on the Daath online community, this study illustrates how unorganized, peer-driven drug user groups provide critical harm reduction information and peer support for non-injecting drug users, particularly those using... Read more
Key finding: Through qualitative interviews in Texas, this study uncovers that despite federal-level endorsement, regional political and legislative factors—including prohibition of syringe programs and fentanyl testing... Read more

2. What are the environmental, social, and policy factors that enable or constrain harm reduction practice?

This theme centers on the conceptualization of harm reduction within socio-ecological risk and enabling environments. It explores how broader social determinants, place-making, and policy frameworks influence the production or reduction of drug-related harm, as well as institutional factors like policing and surveillance that either facilitate or impede harm reduction. Insights in this area illuminate the importance of multi-level interventions and the interactions between individual behaviors, social networks, and structural conditions.

Key finding: Duff advances the 'risk environment' literature by emphasizing 'enabling environments' that incorporate material, social, and affective resources across dynamic places where drug use occurs. He argues that harm reduction... Read more
Key finding: This synthesis of 31 studies reveals significant variability and gaps in harm reduction training programs targeting police. While trainings often focus on overdose response and occupational safety within short, didactic... Read more
by Adrian Guta and 
1 more
Key finding: This reflective essay critically examines the expansion of surveillance within harm reduction services, highlighting how data collection, peer and provider observation, and information sharing increasingly function to manage... Read more

3. How do harm reduction strategies address specific substance use challenges and engage populations at risk?

This theme examines harm reduction approaches tailored to the treatment and prevention of harms related to specific substances including alcohol, ecstasy, stimulants, and poly-substance use. It also considers integrated models combining Indigenous healing or community-based interventions with harm reduction principles. Exploring motivations, risk reduction practices, and comprehensive program implementation, this theme sheds light on effective, culturally sensitive, and context-aware strategies critical for reducing morbidity and mortality in diverse populations.

Key finding: Reviewing the Italian context, this paper identifies key barriers limiting access to and continuity in treatment for alcohol use disorders, including stigma, uneven service distribution, and underutilization of pharmacologic... Read more
Key finding: Analyzing 19 studies and 14 user-oriented websites, this rapid review catalogs diverse self-initiated harm reduction practices among ecstasy users, including drug checking, dose control, hydration and temperature regulation,... Read more

All papers in Harm Reduction

With increasing use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and other electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) globally, the debate surrounding the potential harms or benefits may shift to ensuring that the devices are manufactured,... more
Young adults experiencing homelessness are at high risk of opioid and other substance use, poor mental health outcomes, exposure to trauma, and other risks. Providing access to stable housing has the potential to act as a powerful... more
Young adults experiencing homelessness are at high risk of opioid and other substance use, poor mental health outcomes, exposure to trauma, and other risks. Providing access to stable housing has the potential to act as a powerful... more
The National Report on the Drug Situation in Estonia has been drafted by the Estonian Drug Monitoring Centre for the submission to the Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction... more
Programas de reducción de riesgos en atención a las drogodependencias: conceptos y acciones específicas
A training program was implemented for 56 health care professionals who work with injection drug users (IDUs) in Spain. The aims were to change health care professionals' concepts of drug treatment for IDUs and increase the knowledge... more
Programas de reducción de riesgos en atención a las drogodependencias: conceptos y acciones específicas
Objective: To measure HIV prevalence and characterize associated risk behaviors among injection drug users (IDU) upon detention in Tehran, Iran. Methods: A cross-sectional survey included 459 male IDU arrested by police during a police... more
Background In Kenya, violence is common among people who inject drugs (PWID) living with HIV and their sexual and injecting partners and may lead to decreased uptake of HIV services, increased HIV risk behaviors, and increased HIV... more
Sexual performance is an essential and multifarious aspect of human sexuality that has garnered significant attention from researchers, clinicians, and social scientists across the globe. Yet, among university students, this important... more
Adolescence ; Prise de risque ; Neuroéconomie ; Système motivationnel ; Cortex préfrontal Résumé Les comportements à risque représentent la principale source de morbimortalité à l'adolescence. Nous proposons ici une revue des apports de... more
This article presents a study on individuals who provide harm reduction services following the "Equal -Equal" principle -"Equal -Equal" consultants. Their activities are not regulated or extensively studied in Lithuania, but they are... more
Issues: The sale of illicit drugs online has expanded to mainstream social media apps. These platforms provide access to a wide audience, especially children and adolescents. Research is in its infancy and scattered due to the... more
Background People who use drugs (PWUD) experience elevated HIV risk and numerous barriers to facility-based HIV testing. HIV self-testing (HIVST) could circumvent many of those barriers and is acceptable among PWUD, yet HIVST... more
Nel presente contributo ragiono attorno alla liceità o meno delle pratiche dopanti nello sport, in relazione alla richiesta di ipercompetitività e performatività imposta dalla società e dall'economia ultraliberista.
This article critically examines the absence of a public health approach to the well-being of coca leaf producers in Colombia, a group disproportionately affected by the War on Drugs. While harm reduction frameworks address drug... more
Objective To examine HIV risk behavior and HIV infection among new injectors in Tallinn, Estonia. Design and methods Data from two cross-sectional surveys of injecting drug users (IDUs) recruited from a syringe exchange program (N ¼ 162,... more
Background: Estonia has experienced an HIV epidemic among intravenous drug users (IDUs) with the highest per capita HIV prevalence in Eastern Europe. We assessed the effects of expanded syringe exchange programs (SEP) in the capital city,... more
This manifesto addresses the urgent need for safety and responsibility in the development and deployment of artificial intelligence. Current AI systems are not merely neutral tools; they are powerful structures with the potential to cause... more
Background: Intravenous drug use has been predominantly practised since illegal heroin use became known in Germany in the early 1970s. The available data suggest that the risk of accidental overdose when smoking heroin is substantially... more
People who inject drugs (PWID) and prisoners are considered key populations at risk for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and/or Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). In 2016, the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) was implemented to... more
After a long and controversial debate methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) was first introduced in Germany in 1987. The number of patients in MMT--first low because of strict admission criteria--increased considerably since the 1990s up... more
This paper presents the findings from an analysis of documents contained in a child welfare agency's case file. The goal of this study was to deconstruct standard documentation with child welfare in Ontario. Namely the Comprehensive... more
This study examines the reasons for dropout from substance abuse treatment from the perspectives of clients and professionals. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected from 37 clients and 39 professionals. Findings indicate... more
Teoria ustalania agendy (agenda-setting theory) (McCombs i Shaw 1972), która zakłada, że niektórzy aktorzy lub instytucje -osoby ustalające agendę -kształtują znaczenia i ramy zagadnień w dyskursie publicznym (Kim i in. 2024). 🔶 Dyskurs... more
Background E-cigarettes use “vaping” is a growing public health concern. The Arabic-validated Vaping Attitude and Perceptions Scale (VAPeS) instrument assesses vaping determinants across five constructs: Social Influence, Perceived Harms,... more
Background The Canadian drug supply has significantly increased in toxicity over the past few years, resulting in the worsening of the overdose crisis. A key initiative implemented during this crisis has been data monitoring and reporting... more
It has been 20 years since take-home naloxone provision was first proposed  Take-home naloxone programs have recently overcome legal barriers in many countries  Take-home naloxone provision remains low compared to evident growing... more
La pandemia Covid-19 ha determinato uno stravolgimento delle abitudini sociali, scolastiche e lavorative. Il suo impatto ha avuto risvolti negativi sul comportamento deviante e sulla salute mentale dei minori, quale popolazione... more
Objectives. We tested the hypothesis that higher rates of previous hard drug–related arrests predict lower rates of injection drug use. Methods. We analyzed drug-related arrest data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform... more
Young injection drug users (IDUs) are at risk for acquiring blood-borne diseases like HIV and Hepatitis C. Little is known about the population prevalence of young IDUs. We (1) estimate annual population prevalence rates of young IDUs... more
Background Despite the dramatic increase in opioid-related deaths in recent years, global access to treatment remains poor. A major barrier to people accessing Medication-assisted treatment of the opioid use disorder (MOUD) is the lack of... more
Alcohol consumption and its attendant problems are prevalent among adolescents and young adult college students. Harm reduction has been found efficacious with heavy drinking adolescents and college students. These harm reduction... more
The purpose of the current study was to evaluate a measure of gambling protective behaviors and examine the relationship between indices of gambling behavior, including frequency, quantity and problem severity, and the use of gambling... more
HCV infection continues to spread at an alarming rate among IDU populations. The available evidence suggests that HCV is acquired relatively quickly following onset of injection. However, there are few prospective studies of HCV... more
ERADICATING’s Living Labs created a participatory environment, involving experts and practitioners from various professional background, having a two-fold objective: First, the Living Labs were utilised to pilot, validate and evaluate the... more
Harm reduction strategies, primarily discussed in the context of drug management, aim to minimize the negative impact of harmful behaviours on individuals and society without necessarily reducing the behaviour [1]. [2] defines harm... more
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major public health problem in sub-Saharan Africa due to its highly infectious nature and coinfection with HIV/AIDS. The Kenyan government has implemented various programs and strategies to control TB including the... more
Interest in e-cigarette use cessation is growing among regular users, but data on adult e-cigarette users are limited. Qualitative research among young e-cigarette users shows that perceived harm and addictiveness are linked to quit... more
In an era where new technologies are dominant and prominent in our daily lives, artificial intelligence (AI) seems to bring unlimited potential in its use to facilitate and optimize tasks that were previously performed by human activity.... more
Background-Quantitative endophenotypes are needed to better understand the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The psychobiological model of temperament and character suggests that personality traits are heritable and regulated by brain... more
Dr. Marcham was the team leader of this project and was one of 14 members who created this white paper. Electronic-cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are battery-powered devices of many different configurations that deliver vaporized nicotine and... more
Freedom, autonomy, enslavement and coercion have a multitude of meanings which are determined by the writer's discipline background and intent, even more so in the area of illicit drugs' policy and treatment. This paper proposes to begin... more
Download research papers for free!