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Support for harm‐reduction among staff of specialized addiction treatment services in Ontario, Canada
Author(s) -
OGBORNE ALAN C.,
BIRCHMORETIMNEY CAROL
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
drug and alcohol review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.018
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1465-3362
pISSN - 0959-5236
DOI - 10.1080/09595239800187591
Subject(s) - harm reduction , psychological intervention , abstinence , methadone , methadone maintenance , referral , medical prescription , addiction , heroin , psychiatry , medicine , harm , psychology , family medicine , clinical psychology , nursing , drug , public health , social psychology
In a mail survey of staff of specialized addiction treatment services in Ontario, respondents from different types of services varied in their level of support for a variety of harm reduction initiatives. Across all types of services support was common for needle exchange services (82–95% in favour) and for short‐term non‐abstinence goals for clients with alcohol or drug problems (51–98% in favour). However, mean ratings for the effectiveness of methadone maintenance were negative or near zero, and only in assessment/referral and out‐patient samples did the majority (61% in each case) have a positive view of methadone maintenance programmes. Only a minority of respondents (15% to 35%) indicated support for the prescription of heroin to heroin addicts. In multivariate analyses, support for harm‐reduction strategies was found to be positively related to belief in the effectiveness of pharmacological and cognitive‐behavioural interventions and working in an out‐patient treatment service, and negatively related to belief in interventions based on the disease model.