Overdose prevention centres as spaces of safety, trust and inclusion: A causal pathway based on a realist review.

ABSTRACT:

Issues

Overdose prevention centres (OPC) are non-residential spaces where people can use illicit drugs (that they have obtained elsewhere) in the presence of staff who can intervene to prevent and manage any overdoses that occur. Many reviews of OPCs exist but they do not explain how OPCs work.

Approach

We carried out a realist review, using the RAMESES reporting standards. We systematically searched for and then thematically analysed 391 documents that provide information on the contexts, mechanisms and outcomes of OPCs.

Key findings

Our retroductive analysis identified a causal pathway that highlights the feeling of safety - and the immediate outcome of not dying - as conditions of possibility for the people who use OPCs to build trust and experience social inclusio

SUBMITTER: Stevens A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7617959 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature