Toolkits & Infosheets Toolkits Harm Reduction

Principles of Harm Reduction

Section: 4 of 38

The following principles, developed by the US-based National Harm Reduction Coalition, summarize what a harm reduction approach entails in supporting people who use unregulated drugs but can equally be applied to other potentially risky behaviours as well as the use of regulated substances. These principles inform structural and systems-level work, as well as interpersonal engagement.

Accepts, for better or worse, that licit and illicit drug use is part of our word and chooses to work to minimize its harmful effects rather than simply ignore or condemn them
Establishes quality of individual and community life and well-being – not necessarily cessation of all drug use – as the criteria for successful interventions and policies
Ensures that people who use drugs and those with a history of drug use routinely have a real voice in the creation of programs and policies designed to serve them
Recognizes that the realities poverty, class, racism, social isolation, past trauma, sex-based discrimination, and other social inequalities affect both people’s vulnerability to ad capacity for effectively dealing with drug-related harm
Understands drug use as a complex, multi-faceted phenomenon that encompasses a continuum of behaviours from severe use to a total abstinence, and acknowledges that some ways of using drugs are clearly safer than others
Calls for the non-judgemental, non-coercive provision of services and resources to people who use drugs and the communities in which they live in order to assist them in reducing attendant harm
Affirms people who use drugs (PWUD) themselves as the primary agents of reducing the harms of their drug use and seeks to empower PWUD to share information and support each other in strategies which meet their actual conditions of use
Does not attempt to mininmize or ignore the real and tragic harm and daner that can be associated with illicit drug use

(NHRC, 2020)

At the person-to-person level, these key principles can also be distilled as:

Humanism
Pragmatism
Individualism
Autonomy
Incrementalism
Accountability without termination of the relationship.

Definitions of these principles are included below; although borrowed from research in healthcare settings, they are applicable to campus settings (Hawk et al., 2017). Concrete suggestions for supporting people based on these principles are offered in subsequent sections.

PRINCIPLE	DEFINITION
Humanism	Value, care for, respect, and dignify people as individuals Recognize that people do things for a reason; harmful health behaviours provide some benefit to the individual and those benefits must be assessed and acknowledged to understand the balance between harms and benefits
Pragmatism	None of us will ever achieve perfect health behaviours Health behaviours and the ability to change them are influenced by social and community norms; behaviours do not occur within a vacuum
Individualism	Every person presents with his/her/their own needs and strengths People present with spectrums of harm and receptivity and therefore require a spectrum of support options
Autonomy	Though we can offer suggestions and education regarding students’ support options, individuals ultimately make their own choices about medications, treatment, and health behaviours to the best of their abilities, beliefs, and priorities
Incrementalism	Any positive change is a step toward improved health, and positive change can take years It is important to understand and plan for backward movements
Accountability without termination (healthcare settings)	Clients are responsible for their choices and health behaviours Clients are not “fired” for not achieving goals Individuals have the right to make harmful health decisions, and providers can still help them to understand that the consequences are their own

REFLECTION:

Within your own practice or role, how might you apply harm reduction principles when supporting students?

Section: 4 of 38