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OVERVIEW OF HARM REDUCTION. Presented by: Camille A. Emeagwali & Adam Viera HIV Prevention Capacity Building Initiative A Program of the Harm Reduction Coalition. Harm Reduction Coalition.
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OVERVIEW OF HARM REDUCTION Presented by:Camille A. Emeagwali & Adam Viera HIV Prevention Capacity Building InitiativeA Program of the Harm Reduction Coalition
Harm Reduction Coalition • Founded in 1994 to work with individuals and communities at risk for HIV infection due to drug use and high-risk sexual behaviors. • The Harm Reduction Coalition is a national advocacy and capacity-building organization that promotes the health and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by drug use.
HRC Programs & Services Policy Advocacy National and Regional Conferences Next conference: Portland (Oregon), 2010 The Institute @HRC Harm Reduction Training Institute Hepatitis C Project Skills and Knowledge on Overdose Prevention (SKOOP) LGBT Project (NY Only) Capacity Building for Syringe Access Services Mobilization HIV Prevention Capacity Building Initiative for CBOs
Workshop Objectives By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to: • Define harm reduction, • Understand the principles of harm reduction, • Identify the need for harm reduction, and • Identify the key elements of harm reduction.
Agenda For Today’s Workshop • What Is Harm Reduction? • Why Is There A Need For Harm Reduction? • What Does Harm Reduction Look Like?
Harm Reduction is defined as… a set of practical strategies that reduce the negative consequences of drug use, incorporating a spectrum of strategies from safer use to managed use to abstinence. Harm reduction strategies meet drug users "where they're at."
Principles of Harm Reduction • Compassionate Pragmatism vs. Moral Idealism • Understands drug use encompasses a continuum of behaviors.
Principles of Harm Reduction • Establishes quality of individual and community life and well-being as the criteria for successful interventions and policies. • Non-judgmental and non-coercive provision of services and resources • Ensures that drug users and communities impacted by drug use have a real voice in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them.
Principles of Harm Reduction • Affirms drugs users themselves as the primary agents of change. • Recognizes the social inequalities which affect both people's vulnerability to and capacity for effectively dealing with drug-related harm. • Does not attempt to minimize or ignore the real and tragic harm and danger associated with licit and illicit drug use.
Levels of Harm • Individual • Family • Community
Types of Harm • Physical • Psychological • Social • Economic • Legal • Political
The Need for Harm Reduction • Focus on criminalization over treatment • Continued drug user stigma • Syndemic of HIV, hepatitis C and overdose.
Growing Support for Harm Reduction • Scientific evidence supporting harm reduction • New political leadership- lifting of Federal Ban • Waning support for the “War on Drugs” • Frustration with abstinence-only model
Elements of Harm Reduction Programs • Drug User Involvement • Community Engagement • Continuum of Change • Supportive Agency Policies
Elements of Harm Reduction Programs • Program Collaboration and Service Integration • Accountability • Capacity Building • Support Systems
A Collaborative Model Agency Community Consumer Worker
Dos and Don’ts of Harm Reduction • Don’tbecome a rescuer • Don’t take it personally • Don’t assume you have the same goals as your client • Don’t try to do it alone
Dos and Don’ts of Harm Reduction • Do have realistic expectations • Do keep a sense of humor • Do celebrate small successes • Do learn to roll with the punches • Do set limits • Do learn from your mistakes • Do take care of yourself
Ways to Keep the Work Going • Build relationships within and outside your agency with pro-harm reductionists • Increase your knowledge and skill (http://www.harmreduction.org/training) • Seek out capacity building • Other ideas???
What Can CBA Do For You? • DEBIs • Training • Technical Assistance • Adaptation • Implementation • Evaluation • Cultural Competency • Linguistic Appropriateness • OIPS • Board Development • Strategic Planning • Fiscal Management • Grant Writing • Program Collaboration and Service Integration • CMM • Community Identification and Definition • Community- level Assessment, Collaboration and Development • M&E • Quality Assurance • Outcome Monitoring • Data Collection, Management, and Analysis Skills-building, consultation, and coaching
For More Information HIV Prevention Capacity Building InitiativeA Program of the Harm Reduction Coalition Tel: 212-213-6376, ext. 35Fax: 212-213-6582Email: theinstitute@harmreduction.orgWebsite: www.harmreduction.org/cba