The Harm Reduction Series is designed to provide caregivers and providers with information on best practices for caring for individuals who are actively using substances. The education series will teach ways to expand the treatment continuum to include engaging and keeping people safe when they are actively using substances including alcohol, opioids, stimulants, and tobacco. The series is designed for a broad range of audiences and each module will be presented with an expert from the community to provide insight regarding strategies for engagement and implementation.
This training will review strategies to reduce communicable infectious diseases associated with injection drug use. Testing strategies and linkage to care for those patients with diagnosed blood-borne pathogens. Will review bleaching/sterilization of injection paraphernalia, serosorting or sequential drug use to prevent infection of uninfected partners. Pharmacological interventions for infection prevention including nPEP and PrEP will also be discussed.
CE/CME credits pending approval.
Intended audience
The entire multidisciplinary team providing treatment for substance use disorders in an office-based setting as well as anyone in a clinical or non-clinical position that is interested in learning about harm reduction.
Objectives
- Participants will be able to recall communicable infections associated with injection drug use.
- Participants will be able to evaluate strategies to reduce the risk of communicable infections for people who inject drugs.
- Participants will be able to define the steps necessary to appropriately bleach injection drug equipment to reduce the risk of HIV transmission.
- Participants will be able to identify at least 2 pharmacological interventions for communicable disease acquisition among patients who inject drugs.
- Participants will be able to name at least 3 vaccines recommended for the prevention of infections for people who inject drugs.
Sponsored by
Boston Medical Center Grayken Center for Addiction, Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services.
