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NC Harm Reduction Coalition

NC Harm Reduction Coalition

Dedicated to the implementation of harm reduction interventions, public health strategies, drug policy transformation, and justice reform in North Carolina and throughout the American South.

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Syringe Exchange Models

Syringe Exchange Delivery Models via the National Harm Reduction Coalition

FIXED SITE EXCHANGES – THE EXCHANGE IS LOCATED IN A BUILDING. THIS COULD BE A STOREFRONT, AN OFFICE, OR OTHER SIMILAR SPACE.

Strengths:

♦Shelter from street-based activities/safe space.

♦Room for other services such as medical care, referrals, psychosocial.

♦Out of view of local residents, businesses

♦Privacy for exchange participants.

Limitations:

♦Participants have to come to you.

♦Limited hours of operation.

♦Higher overhead and upkeep.

MOBILE/STREET BASED VEHICLE BASED EXCHANGE – THE EXCHANGE IS CONDUCTED VIA A VAN OR RV THAT DRIVES TO EXCHANGE SITES AND NEIGHBORHOODS.

Strengths:

♦Flexibility if the drug scene or neighborhood changes.

♦Easier negotiations with larger community if they know you are not a permanent fixture.

♦Informal and low threshold if actually on the sidewalk or in a park.

♦Reaches harder to reach IDUs who may not have transportation or feel comfortable walking into a fixed site exchange

Limitations:

♦Harder to deliver ancillary services than with a fixed site.

♦Van involves higher overhead because of insurance, upkeep, driver, etc.

HOME DELIVERY OR PEER-BASED EXCHANGE –  PARTICIPANTS CALL A PHONE NUMBER TO ARRANGE DELIVERY OF SERVICES, WHICH CAN BE DONE IN THEIR HOME OR AT ANOTHER AGREED UPON SITE. CAN HAPPEN ON A REGULAR SCHEDULE, OR BY APPOINTMENT VIA CELL PHONE. 

Strengths:

♦Safer for participants.

♦Peer knowledge of drugs, drug use, and the local drug scene.

♦Increases access to new syringes for socially isolated injectors who do not access services such as syringe exchange.

Limitations:

♦Can involve a lot of driving, resulting in high overhead.

♦ Harder to offer wrap around services such as HIV testing, wound care, referrals, etc 

INTEGRATED SYRINGE EXCHANGE – AN ORGANIZATION ADDS SYRINGE EXCHANGE INTO THEIR ONGOING SERVICES.

Strengths:

♦Pre-existing organizational infrastructure and client base.

♦Multiple ways of getting syringes to participants, depending on the type of services provided by the agency.

♦May offset operational and human resource costs

Limitations:

♦Staff may be  resistant to new programs & new ideas, especially if the agency follows a traditional abstinence approach.

♦Cost of training and supervision of peers.

♦Possible conflicting identities as peer worker and IDU community member.

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Related

  • Syringe Exchange Models
  • The North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC) Releases Key Program Data for 2018-2019

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Testimonials

“The help I got from the harm reduction program was more than just clean equipment, it was about being with people who didn’t judge me for my addiction, and who really wanted to help.”
~ Sam, a 50-year-old former drug user and sex worker in Carrboro, NC

“Too often, drug users suffer discrimination, are forced to accept treatment, marginalized, and often harmed by approaches which over-emphasize criminalization and punishment while under-emphasizing harm reduction and respect for human rights. This is despite the longstanding evidence that a harm reduction approach is the most effective way of protecting rights, limiting personal suffering, and reducing the incidence of HIV.”
~ Navanethem Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, March 10, 2009

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NC Harm Reduction Coalition

2154 Wrightsville Avenue
Wilmington, NC 28403
Phone: (336) 543-8050
Email: Executive.Director@nchrc.org

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