This document was developed by the New York State Department of Health AIDS Institute (NYSDOH AI) to guide primary care clinicians and other clinical practitioners in integrating harm reduction principles into the treatment and care of adults with substance use and substance use disorders (SUDs).
Clinical Care
New York State Department of Health – Substance Use Harm Reduction in Medical Care
Harm Reduction as a Trauma-Informed Approach to Substance Use: A Guide for Primary Care Providers
Guidance for utilizing the harm reduction framework to integrate a trauma-informed approach in primary care settings.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality – Integrating Harm Reduction into Primary Care Practices
Guidance for integrating a harm reduction approach into primary care settings
AMA Journal of Ethics – How Should Harm Reduction Be Included in Care Continua for Patients With Opioid Use Disorder?
Improving equitable outcomes for those with opioid use disorder (OUD) requires access to the continuum of evidence-based OUD care, including harm reduction interventions, as well as dismantling policies that undermine mental health and substance use disorder treatment continuity, housing stability, and education and employment opportunities.
Harm reduction principles for healthcare settings
This paper is one of the firsts to provide a comprehensive set of principles for universal harm reduction as a conceptual approach for healthcare provision. The principles include humanism, pragmatism, individualism, autonomy, incrementalism, and accountability without termination.
Hospital-Based Harm Reduction Interventions: A Systematic Review
This paper examines how harm reduction principles have been successfully applied to hospital settings resulting in decreased negative health outcomes associated with SUD, improved healthcare provider-patient relationships, and reduced financial burden of healthcare systems.
