Trainings and Resources

The workshop presented strategies to integrate HIV, hepatitis, and sexual health concerns into services for PWID. The session will focus on communication skills, assessment techniques, and building motivation among PWID to make healthier choices. Mr. Sacco looked at programmatic and clinical-level integration strategies and offered participants an opportunity to assess current service delivery models and develop a plan to enhance care. Mrs. Bell and Ms. Chavis intrdoduce participants to resources and funding opportunities available through HRSA’s HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB).

Integrating Health Promotion for People Who Inject Drugs (PWID) Into Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) Services The workshop will present strategies to integrate HIV, hepatitis, and sexual health concerns into services for PWID. The session will focus on communication skills, assessment techniques, and building motivation among PWID to make healthier choices. The presenter will look at programmatic and clinical-level integration strategies and offer participants an opportunity to assess current service delivery models and develop a plan to enhance care.

Over the past decade, attempts to address the overdose crisis in the U.S. have resulted in more restrictive opioid prescribing policies—which, because they have reduced the overall availability of prescription opioids, have inadvertently led to a surge in the use of illicit drugs such as heroin. To reduce the risks posed by the use or sharing of unsterile equipment (disease and infection), state governments should consider facilitating the use of syringe services programs (SSPs), which distribute free, new, sterile syringes to PWID. Such programs also often offer other services, such as vaccinations and education on preventing overdoses, and have also been shown to improve the odds that PWID will seek and engage with treatment.