Release Date
Geography
Language of Resource
Full Text Available
Open Access / OK to Reproduce
Peer Reviewed
Objective
Supervised consumption sites (SCS) have been implemented across Canada to mitigate harms associated with illegal substance use. Despite their successes, they still contend with challenges that limit their accessibility and uptake. Overdose response hotlines and apps are novel virtual technologies reminiscent of informal “spotting” methods that may address some of the limitations. Here, we strove to qualitatively examine the factors that may encourage or deter utilization of these virtual services and SCS.
Findings/Key points
In sum, participants viewed SCS and virtual services as filling different needs and gaps. This study adds to a growing body of literature which informs how virtual harm reduction services can serve as useful adjunct to more standard harm reduction methods.
Design/methods
A total of 52 participants across Canada were recruited using convenience and snowball sampling methods. These included people with lived and living experience of substance use, family members of people with lived experience, healthcare providers, community harm reduction workers, and virtual harm reduction operators. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted and inductive thematic analysis was performed to identify the themes pertaining to SCS and virtual harm reduction.
