“Personally, I knew the opioid epidemic was having a significant impact on people’s lives. One of the biggest things I did not realize was all the stigmas and stereotypes around people who use drugs. I also didn’t realize all the barriers many face. These barriers include lack of access to medical care, food insecurity, job insecurity, and being treated poorly by some medical professionals if deciding to seek medical care.

When it comes to food insecurity, this is a huge problem. While there are several food banks and food pantries, these often require the recipient to provide an address or an ID or SSN. Several people don’t necessarily have these things which ultimately denies them access to food. These people often go hungry which impacts daily functioning.

Lack of health insurance, lack of access to medical care, and being treated poorly by medical professionals is another barrier many struggle with. People may not have health insurance due to job insecurity or may not have access to health care due to location in which they reside and/or medical facilities will not accept them. Due to stereotypes and stigmas surrounding drug use, some medical professionals may become part of that issue. Medical professionals may play into stereotypes and stigmas, immediately judging people who use drugs and providing poorer quality of healthcare to these people just because they use drugs. This judgment significantly impacts the health of a person, they are being judged solely on their use of drugs rather than who they are as a person and what health issues they have.

When I first began my term, when learning about the harm reduction program, one of the biggest things I witnessed, is the community of people who use drugs. Many do not have much but they will jump at the chance to help one another out, whether its sharing a sandwich even though they haven’t eaten in days or coming to Syringe Service Programs (SSP’s) for their friends and family to make sure they have new syringes if the friends or family weren’t able to come themselves.

Harm reduction has the basis of reducing the negative consequences associated with drug use. People who are apart of Harm Reduction Programs are 6 times more likely to seek recovery and are 3 times more likely to reduce their overall drug use. Another component of Harm Reduction is participant involvement, harm reduction has the belief that the participants know what’s best and should be allowed to help make decisions of how these programs are ran to provide better services. As the volunteer coordinator, participants are encouraged to volunteer. These opportunities include assembling naloxone kits and volunteering at Syringe Services Programs (SSP’s). When SSP participants volunteer at SSP’s, these individuals are better able to relate to other participants and make participants feel more comfortable being there. This is a positive thing because it then encourages people to continue to use SSP services which ultimately helps to reduce transmission of blood borne pathogens, decreases injury due to multiple use of a single syringe, provides people with access to healthcare by being able to be tested for HIV and Hep C for free and onsite, lets people know their health status, and improves confidence of people.

As a future nurse I am taking what I am learning to heart. I want to strive to provide equal quality and access to healthcare to all, regardless if they are a person who uses drugs, has mental illnesses or whatever circumstance people are in. I can only hope that in the future the stigmas, the stereotypes and the barriers will all be broken down to ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity to resources.