Abram Marissa D, Jugdoyal Adrian, Seabra Paulo, Murphy-Parker Dana, Searby Adam
Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, North Carolina, USA.
Brunel University, London, UK.
Int J Ment Health Nurs. 2025 Feb;34(1):e13436. doi: 10.1111/inm.13436. Epub 2024 Sep 20.
In addiction treatment, harm reduction is a philosophy that aims to reduce the harms from ongoing alcohol and other drug use. Although abstinence may be the 'gold standard' in reducing harm from ongoing alcohol and other drug use, harm reduction recognises that abstinence may not be achievable for certain individuals. Accordingly, harm reduction is used to enable medical or mental health treatment for individuals who continue to use alcohol and other drugs, providing a form of care which meets individuals where they present to healthcare facilities. Harm reduction accepts ongoing alcohol and other drug use, while providing a traditionally marginalised cohort of individuals access to healthcare services. In this perspective paper, we argue that the role of nurses in promoting and utilising harm reduction as part of their regular practice is essential to both reducing harm from alcohol and other drug use, engaging individuals who use alcohol and other drugs in healthcare services, and providing a means to accept individuals as they are to build trust and rapport for engagement in addiction treatment when they are ready, and at their own pace. Nurses, by virtue of their role and number in the healthcare landscape (approximately 28 million globally), are ideally placed to implement harm reduction in their practice to achieve better outcomes for individuals who use alcohol and other drugs.
在成瘾治疗中，减少伤害是一种旨在减少持续饮酒和使用其他药物所带来危害的理念。虽然禁欲可能是减少持续饮酒和使用其他药物危害的“黄金标准”，但减少伤害认识到某些个体可能无法实现禁欲。因此，减少伤害用于为继续使用酒精和其他药物的个体提供医疗或心理健康治疗，提供一种在个体前往医疗机构时就能满足他们需求的护理形式。减少伤害接受持续的酒精和其他药物使用，同时为传统上被边缘化的个体群体提供获得医疗服务的机会。在这篇观点论文中，我们认为护士在将减少伤害作为其常规实践的一部分加以推广和应用方面所发挥的作用，对于减少酒精和其他药物使用造成的危害、促使使用酒精和其他药物的个体参与医疗服务以及提供一种接纳个体现状的方式以建立信任和融洽关系，从而在他们准备好时并按照自己的节奏参与成瘾治疗而言至关重要。鉴于护士在医疗领域的角色和数量（全球约有2800万），他们处于理想位置，能够在实践中实施减少伤害措施，为使用酒精和其他药物的个体取得更好的治疗效果。
