Employment Among Users of a Medically Supervised Safer Injection Facility

Abstract

A supervised injection facility (SIF), where individuals can inject drugs under medical supervision, opened in Vancouver in 2003. The scientific evaluation of the SIF has demonstrated positive public health-related outcomes. However, the influence of supervised injection facilities on individual efforts to reintegrate into mainstream society has not been studied. We examined for a possible relationship between use of the SIF and employment among a cohort of 1090 SIF users using generalized estimating equations (GEE). In a multivariate analysis of factors associated with employment, using the SIF for ≥ 25% of injections (versus > 25% of injections) was not statistically significant (AOR = 1.05, 95% CI: 0.88–1.27). These findings suggest that the SIF is not having an adverse impact on efforts to seek employment.

Keywords:

• Employment
• supervised injection site
• injection drug use