Detached outreach among young drug users : the feasibility of setting up an outreach service

Abstract

The provision of detached outreach is a harm reduction approach aimed at reaching those who are least expected to make contact with an agency. While to some extent the heroin using population may be seen to be in contact, users of other drugs are still elusive to local agencies, and are constituting a significant hidden population. It is towards such populations that outreach provision is particularly targeted with the fundamental aim of informing them about the risks associated with drug-taking and supporting them in reducing or eliminating such risks. Rather than turning drug users into patients, outreach aims to adequately provide help or services in response to health needs. Following a model proposed by the Council of Europe, this study is divided into three sections which, although distinct, are extremely interrelated and the lack of any would have resulted in a weak base for any recommendations that could have been made. The first part defines what constitutes drug use, abuse or dependence, while the second deals entirely with various forms of outreach provision and discusses how outreach can be most effective. The third section analyses the findings emerging from the various research methods employed. Through participant observation, as well as a number of interviews with current 'outreach workers' from the local agencies and other key informants, it was sought to understand further the local drug scene. Moreover, a series of highly structured interviews among thirty drug users were aimed at evaluating their harm reduction knowledge. This qualitative data was supplemented by quantitative data emerging from secondary sources that helped in setting all the data in its proper perspective. Finally the conclusion includes a number of recommendations that could strengthen current outreach provision or ideally even encourage the setting up of a dedicated detached outreach service whose need has been certainly determined.