Harm Reduction Principles and Their Effective Application

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

12:45 PM – 2:00 PM ET

Location: A412

Presenter(s)

Beth Connolly, MPA

Assistant Director, Office of Public Health
Office of National Drug Control Policy
Washington, District of Columbia
Harold J. Phillips, MRP

Director
White House Office of National AIDS Policy
Washington, District of Columbia
Allan Clear

Director, Office of Drug User Health
New York State Department of Health, AIDS Institute
New York City, New York
Van Ingram

Executive Director
Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy
Frankfort, Kentucky

Moderator(s)

Daniel Blaney-Koen, JD

Senior Legislative Attorney
American Medical Association
Chicago, Illinois

Detailed definitions of harm reduction vary, but there are key principles that most practitioners and academic experts recognize. These principles involve engaging people who use drugs in a manner which highlights the following:

Connection – with staff or volunteers as the first step to receiving health and social services
Respect – recognizing that an individual with a substance use disorder is the key decision maker with regard to their treatment decisions
Care – starting with the tools to prevent disease transmission of disease or overdose and leading to a low-barrier health and social services
Support – including the social determinants of health, as well as addiction treatment and other assistance in individual and group settings

From the Office of National Drug Control Policy, the presenter will describe these principles and their application in different settings, as well as federal leadership in this area. From the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, the presenter will describe hard won lessons in the ongoing battle to end the HIV epidemic and how this knowledge applies to the opioid epidemic. From the New York States’ AIDS Institute, the presenter will describe how the state utilizes a variety of funding streams to field health and social services that make a real difference in the lives of a vulnerable population. From the Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, the presenter will discuss how the state fosters collaboration between harm reduction programs and law enforcement, including with the 75 syringe service programs operating in Kentucky.

Learning Objectives:

Describe key principles of harm reduction
Apply lessons learned from the development of harm reduction approaches over many years, in response to both the HIV/AIDS and the evolving opioid epidemic, to today's drug-related challenges in the participants' own communities
Assess how evolving evidence on harm reduction approaches is fostering changes in drug policy at the federal and state level and opening up new opportunities to serve a highly vulnerable population that has not otherwise been seeking or receiving evidence-based substance use disorder treatment