Framing harm reduction as part of an integrated approach to reduce drug overdose: A randomized message testing experiment in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults, 2022

Original research
by
McGinty, Emma E. et al

Release Date

2023

Geography

USA

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

No

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

No

Peer Reviewed

Yes

Objective

There are growing efforts to implement integrated programs offering harm reduction services alongside other services for people who use drugs. We tested how messages depicting integrated programs influence audience attitudes about harm reduction.

Findings/Key points

Messages depicting programs offering integrated services including but not limited to harm reduction may heighten audience endorsement of the effectiveness of such an approach but lower willingness to have a harm reduction program in the neighborhood.

Design/methods

A nine-group randomized experiment (N=3,181) embedded in a national survey of U.S. adults tested how factual and narrative messages describing programs integrating harm reduction, addiction treatment, and/or other services to reduce overdose influenced respondents’ attitudes about harm reduction, relative to a comparison message defining harm reduction.

Keywords

Harm reduction
Wrap-around services