Newly released: Systematic review on accessing harm reduction service in prisons

Pictured above: Olivia Varsaneux, Doctoral Candidate

Congratulations to Olivia Varsaneux, who recently published a systematic narrative synthesis on identifying the barriers and facilitators to accessing harm reduction services (HRS) in prisons. Harm reduction services (HRS) are defined as condoms, pre-exposure prophylaxis, opioid agonist therapy, needle syringe programs, and hepatitis B vaccination.

This paper, published in the International Drug Policy Journal, examined 8324 articles and included 94 articles in the final analysis.. The review found that limited resource allocation, strict administrative policies, and staff and people in prisons' negative views of HRS were some barriers that hindered HRS access. Risk prevention, support from leadership and prior positive experiences with HRS were found to be facilitators.

To read the full article, click here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40517606/