Key Principles of Harm Reduction in Homeless Settings

Check out the HR Key Principles, our key innovative output which translates the learnings of the HR4homelessness project into guidance for homeless and other services who support people in homelessness

The HR Key Principles translate the learnings from the ‘HR4homelessness’ Project, which brought together homeless and bustance use services, into guidance for homeless services to improve support provision for people who use drugs and/or alcohol.

For each of the seven principles, strategies for improving support provision are described as well as existing good practices. We provide suggestions for tools that can be helpful for staff and service users, suggestions for further reading and link you up to the respective training video(s). The seven principles are:

  1. Human Rights based service provision: HR aims at establishing quality of individual and community life and well-being – not necessarily abstinence of all drug use – as the criteria for successful actions and policies. HR calls for a non-judgmental, non-coercive access to support and care.
  2. Meaningful engagement of service users: HR engages and involves people with lived experience of homelessness and substance use in the development and evaluation of policies, services and programs that affect them. This is essential for achieving  good social and health outcomes and addressing unmet needs.
  3. Reduce risks and harm: HR focuses on reducing the harms related to substance use for the individual and the broader community. It takes into account factors that may exacerbate vulnerability such as trauma, incarceration history, racism, social disadvantage, housing status, age, sexual orientation and gender.
  4. Take on a pragmatic attitude: HR accepts that licit and illicit substance use is part of our world. HR reflects the idea that none of us will ever achieve perfect health behaviors and that ‘perfect’ health behaviors are impossible to define as they are shaped by social determinants and norms.
  5. Person Centered Services: HR services focus on responding to the needs, preferences and values of the individuals and communities they work with. This includes the recognition of the social conditioning of health outcomes, addressing power relationships between care providers and service users, and the promotion of communication and shared decision-making.
  6. Evidence-based services, strategies and policies which are relevant and effective to the communities they serve and which are regularly evaluated and, if necessary, adapted.
  7. Accountability: HR aims to minimize not only the negative health and social impacts associated with drug and alcohol use, but also the harms caused by respective policies, laws, services, and institutional practices. HR promotes processes and systems designed to hold individuals and groups in check for their decisions and actions.

COVID-19 – Addressing the impact on workers in the informal economy

In this NLO podcast episode, we discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on workers in the informal economy, including sex workers and undocumented migrants. Our guests explain the gaps and unintended consequences of government responses and how to increase equitable and inclusive access to care and social services for all.

Join us for an exciting and insightful discussion with:

Maria-Anna Paraskeva, Senior Policy Officer, DG EMPL, F1- EFS (European Social Fund) and FEAD (Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived) (European Commission)

Michele LeVoy, Director Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)

Luca Stevenson, Coordinator, International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE)

Moderated by Paul Adamson from Encompass.

COVID-19 in Marginalised Groups – Challenges, actions and voices

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis for governments and health systems, and has severely impacted the health, lives and livelihood of millions of people worldwide.

While COVID-19 has affected everyone, it has had particular impact among marginalised communities such as homeless people, LGTBI people, people who use drugs, prisoners, sex workers and undocumented migrants. The pandemic has amplified existing challenges among these groups, who already face a high risk of poor health and various barriers in accessing healthcare and support services. The Nobody Left Outside (NLO) initiative recently explained these challenges and issued policy recommendations in a briefing paper for the WHO European Office for Investment for Health and Development.

The webinar “COVID-19 in Marginalised Groups – Challenges, actions and voices” organised in collaboration with the European Health Forum Gastein concludes the NLO Week 2020 – a week of online activities focusing on the unmet healthcare needs of marginalised communities. In this webinar, NLO civil society participants, academics and policymakers will discuss the impact of COVID-19 on marginalised groups, the gaps and unintended consequences of government responses, and how we can ensure future health systems and recovery measures reach everyone.

Speakers include:

Moderator: Boris Azaïs, Director, Public Policy Europe & Canada, MSD

Leaving nobody outside our healthcare systems—in Europe or elsewhere

On November 25, 2019 the BMJ published the following opinion article encouraging the European Commission to support an EU-level knowledge platform to compile and share research and best practices in healthcare access for marginalised, underserved groups. Also, it calls for a joint action to improve access in these groups; healthcare staff training and capacity building via the European Social Fund+, and research to improve access to cancer screening and care among these groups. Lastly, it recommends that the commission should further prioritise a co-ordinated approach to addressing social determinants of health in all policies.

Conference – Civil Society Involvement in Drug Policy

The CSIDP Conference will bring civil society organisations, national and European policy makers, and other stakeholders to discuss the importance of civil society’s involvement in drug policy for the first time. The conference will present the level of participation in European Member States, provide models of good practice and critically discuss potential bottlenecks and shortcomings. The following questions will be addressed: Why is civil society involvement important? What has been achieved so far? How can civil society’s involvement be improved? What are the main principles for meaningful participation, and what is needed at the European, national, and local levels?

The two Civil Society Fora – the one on Drugs and the one on HIV, Hepatitis and Tuberculosis – will present their activities on European and international levels. Relevant stakeholders, including governmental officials and civil society representatives, will share different approaches and perspectives. Interactive sessions will enable the participants to discuss civil society’s role and limitations and inspire each other to improve cooperation and the dialogue between civil society and policymakers.

Presentations:
Civil Society Involvement at the UN Level. Does it work? – Jamie Bridge [IDPC]
Funding Gap in Romania – Alina Bocai [ARAS]
Promoting Democracy, Improving Government, Renewing Trust – Lucy McTernan [OGP]
Encouraging Examples in Drug Policy – Manuel Cardoso [SICAD]
Roadmap Presentation – Marcus Keane [ALDP]
Assessment Report – Harald Lahuse, Marcus Martnes ,Uwe Verthein [ZIS Hamburg]