The Attitudes and Opinions of Addiction Counsellors Regarding a Harm Reduction Perspective on the Treatment of Substance Use Disorders: Comparative Study Between South Africa and Sweden.

Beskrivning

Harm reduction (HR) is an evidence-based approach that supports individuals with substance use disorder (SUD) by, for example, providing clean needles and syringes, safe injection rooms, and opioid substitution therapy, interventions regulated by law. In spite of legislation and evidence- based practice the support for HR varies between countries and different social groups, and the negative opinions on HR often include that the interventions enable drug use instead of addressing the underlying issues and that HR shifts the focus away from abstinence. Addiction counsellors who serve people with SUD are crucial in providing treatment and creating a non-judgmental and encouraging environment. It's of the utmost importance to understand the professionals' attitude towards HR since a negative and judgmental attitude may make people less likely to seek health care in conflict with legal requirements as well as ethical and evidence-based knowledge. An online survey based on Goddard's scale Harm Reduction Acceptability Scale attitudes was sent to addiction counsellors, nurses, social workers, doctors and psychologists in South Africa and Sweden working in both private and public care. The aim is to contextualize the attitudes towards HR, to measure the relationships between attitudes towards HR and socio-demographic variables and, finally, identify differences and similarities between South Africa and Sweden.

Period	2024 juli 22
Evenemangstitel	International Academy of Law and Mental Health XXXVIIIth Congress
Typ av evenemang	Konferens
Konferensnummer	XXXVIIIth
Plats	Barcelona, SpanienVisa på karta