Harm reduction services are widely known by communities.
% of those aware of service:
- Opioid agonist therapy - 95%
- Supervised injection or consumption sites - 83%
- Drug checking services - 71%
People know these services exist, but awareness alone does not guarantee access due to social and individual barriers
| Despite awareness of services, many did not try to access them. |
|
But of those who tried most were successful in accessing services! |
| 36% |
Opioid agonist therapy |
90% |
| 36% |
Supervised injection or consumption sites |
97% |
| 56% |
Drug checking services |
95% |
When people can access services that meet their needs, their quality of life improves.
“Services need to be culturally appropriate, stigma and discrimination free, pragmatic, flexible and integrating Indigenous ways of knowing, healing and being.”
Barriers prevent access.
Most common barriers:
- Service availability (wait times, limited hours, distance)
- Structural limitations (cost, language, ID requirements, childcare)
“Redesigning clinical services to reflect a community-based, harm reduction model is imperative to reducing health inequities.”
Improving harm reduction is about changing systems, not people.
Acknowledgements: This resource was developed collaboratively by the People with lived and living experiences of substance use working group and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Special recognition is extended to Katie Upham, survey participants and the sentinel site teams for their contributions to this work.
