EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA HARM REDUCTION: EXPLORING SERVICES OFFERED USING THE SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION HARM REDUCTION GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Abstract

The United States (US) is experiencing an opioid epidemic. In order to address drug-related harm, the US federal government has identified harm reduction as policy priority. Harm reduction is a public health approach that focuses on interventions to decrease substance-related harm. SAMHSA, in 2023, published a harm reduction framework that identifies key harm reduction pillars and practices. This research examines the opioid epidemic in the United States and in eastern North Carolina (NC), explores the history of harm reduction programs and the evidence of their effects on opioid-related harm, and explores harm reduction best practices and principles as identified by SAMHSA. Then, using analysis of interviews with harm reduction programs in rural eastern North Carolina, we evaluate harm reduction programs to determine the presence of SAMHSA harm reduction pillars. Our analysis finds all pillars present except lived-experiences. This research contributes to understand whether and how harm reduction programs in our study embrace SAMHSA harm reduction best practices and principles, with a goal of contributing to understanding of how to improve harm reduction services in rural areas.