An evaluation of a harm reduction Summer School for undergraduate health professional students

Abstract

Aims: The role of health professionals in the provision of harm reduction services is well established in some countries, but not all. We describe a two week course in harm reduction for undergraduate health professionals from a range of countries run in 2014, and provide an account of its evaluation. Methods: Before and after design, with Revised Interprofessional Education Perception Scale (RIEPS) and Harm Reduction Attitude Measurement Scale (HRAS) administered at the start and end of the course, and focus groups at the end of the course to explore perceptions of harm reduction. Findings: Student perceptions of interprofessional learning were generally positive at the start of the course. The only significant change at the end of the course was an improvement in “Perception of Actual Co-operation”. Attitudes towards harm reduction were positive, but there was a significant positive shift in total attitude score at the end of the course. Qualitative analyses indicated that students experienced a shift towards less stigmatising attitudes, and attributed some of this to the experiential visits they attended. Conclusions: An interprofessional harm reduction course can have a positive impact on students’ attitudes towards harm reduction.

Keywords:

• Alcohol and other drug use
• education
• harm reduction

Acknowledgments

Rachael Bulter coded the qualitative data and provided feedback on analysis and interpretation. Johanna Beattie entered quantitative data. We would also like to acknowledge the four independent researchers who ran the focus groups, and to thank the student participants.