Just have this come from their prescription pad: the medicalization of safer supply from the perspectives of health planners in BC, Canada

Original research
by
Macevicius, Celeste et al

Release Date

2023

Geography

Canada

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

No

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

No

Peer Reviewed

Yes

Objective

This study presents health planners’ perspectives on the Risk Mitigation Guidance (RMG) adoption within a medicalized system of care.

Findings/Key points

Health planners recognized and often problematized the over-medicalized nature of current safer supply models. Challenges with medicalization include privileging dominant ideologies (e.g. biomedicine), exerting social control, and perpetuating inequities. Greater attention to the relationships between harm reduction, medical, and criminal justice models in drug policy is needed to avoid compromises of medicalization within criminalization. Grassroots harm reduction may be critical in advancing safer supply beyond medical models.

Design/methods

Interviews (n=28)

Keywords

Safer supply
Policy/Regulatory