Resources
7 Results (showing 1 - 7)
Results sorted by updated date (oldest first)
Results sorted by updated date (oldest first)
Posted 8/18/2020 (updated 3/28/2024)
This guide was created for harm reduction medical staff and volunteers as a resource about the types of wounds common with injection drug use and also to increase knowledge about treatment modalities for this population. Skin and soft-tissue infections are the most common cause of hospitalization among people who inject drugs.
Posted 6/2/2020 (updated 3/28/2024)
We know from RCORP grantees, first responders, hospitals, people who use drugs, the media and other allies that many communities are seeing spikes in overdose (OD) events and deaths since the onset of COVID-19. Sometimes these deaths come at alarming levels because of stretched public health infrastructure and the time it takes to turn around data. The webinar took place on May 26, 2020.
Posted 7/7/2021 (updated 4/2/2024)
Background: Injecting drug users (IDUs) are at increased risk of acquiring and transmitting HIV and other bloodborne pathogens through the multi-person use of syringes. Although research has shown that increased access to syringes through syringe exchange programs (SEPs) is an effective strategy to reduce risky injection practices many areas of the United States still do not have SEPs. In the absence of SEPs, legislation allowing pharmacies over-the-counter sales of syringes has also been shown to reduce syringe sharing. The success of pharmacy sales however is limited by other legal stipulations, such as drug paraphernalia laws, which in turn may contribute to fear among IDUs about being caught purchasing and carrying syringes.
Posted 7/21/2021 (updated 4/2/2024)
Goals: Increase knowledge of harm reduction principles, strategies, and resources, increase knowledge of managed use, abstinence, and safer use to meet people who use drugs where they are at, provide a safe environment (plenaries and breakouts) to discuss licit and illicit drug use as a multi-faceted phenomenon requiring successful interventions and policies and increase knowledge of stigma as it relates to harm reduction principles and practices.
Posted 8/19/2021 (updated 4/2/2024)
In spring 2021, pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors notified syringe services programs (SSPs) and partners that there would be significant interruptions in the supply of injectable/intramuscular (IM) naloxone. Currently, production and distribution delays are expected to last until fall 2021. This will specifically affect SSPs because IM naloxone is the most affordable formulation, and therefore is most commonly utilized by programs that distribute large volumes of naloxone to reduce fatal overdose rates.
Posted 1/12/2021 (updated 4/4/2024)
This handbook is for anyone looking for help or information, and for people who care about them, who may be: Misusing prescription pain medications, using narcotics, heroin, or other opioid drugs; thinking about seeking help for an opioid problem; or Considering medications that help with recovery from opioid use disorder.
Posted 1/20/2021 (updated 4/4/2024)
People who use drugs (PWUD) in the U.S. experience disproportionate adverse health outcomes and mortality as compared with the population as a whole (Lake & Kennedy, 2016; Reisinger, Pratt, Shoenborn, & Druss, 2017). Similar health outcomes have been reported elsewhere, for example in the UK (Neale, 2004), and across 8 other European countries (Bargagli et al., 2006). In the U.S. health outcomes among PWUD are intensified by the overdose pandemic, epidemic rates of HIV, hepatitis A and C, skin and soft tissue infections (CDC Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2020; Hagen, Thiede, & Des Jarlais, 2005; Scholl, Seth, Kariisa, Wilson, & Baldwin, 2019), and by structural barriers thwarting health access and utilization.