9th - Harm Reduction Coalition

9th
National Harm Reduction Conference
FROM PUBLIC HEALTH TO SOCIAL JUSTICE
Gray, Pauli, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, San Francisco, CA
pgray@sfaf.org
A Harm Reduction Model for Addressing Community Interventions and Emergencies through Syringe Access Sites
The goals of Syringe Access Services at the San Francisco AIDS Foundation are broader than HIV, giving people Syringes,
and basic supplies. We want to address the human interactions and interventions that are done that can often only be done
through our sites. We are using two examples of how we work with the community to face immediate, important, and unaddressed
challenges that our clients face.
The first intervention we’re looking at is HCV based. Beyond HCV testing (but also including the challenges of just that) we
are doing Hep C support groups in Needle Exchange and street oriented settings. The folks coming to these groups are not
necessarily interested in getting treatment or even testing yet but by making them aware that the neighborhood is full of
HCV+ and co-infected people; we need to start looking at it. One thing that has come up is that Hep C progresses much more
slowly than HIV does and is largely ignored as a threat. It’s not “in your face.” We want to get info, awareness and harm reduction
rolling from client to client. We want to share Harm Reduction techniques of doing this.
Because we treat our clients as valued customers they do trust us and depend on us for important Info and services in many
areas. That being said, we will also be looking at overdose prevention and education especially in the wake of an alarming
and ongoing nationwide spike of Opiate overdoses and overdose fatalities. Using Syringe Access Services sites and resources
is of utmost importance in this struggle and can be one of and possibly the most effective deterrent.
Pauli Gray has been doing Harm Reduction work in many arenas for 15 years. Harm Reduction, Drug Use, Needle Exchange, HIV
and HCV trainings and work have taken him from San Francisco to the Ukraine and Africa. He is also an HIV Test Counselor, site
supervisor, and a treatment access Counselor for the SFAF Syringe Access Services as well as working for the DOPE Project at
HRC for almost eight years and has done trainings at HRTC
Adam Spangler has been working with SFAF Syringe Access Services for three years as a Site volunteer and now Site Supervisor.
He deals with sites, logistics and also does HIV Test Counseling. He is dedicated to Harm Reduction as a Model and a Cause
Grove, Donald, Independent, New York, NY
receptive@verizon.net
Down and Dirty Data Workshop
Many harm reduction agencies have extremely limited resources to document their work or the people they work with.
This beginner’s workshop will cover the nuts and bolts basics of how to collect data on harm reduction services that can
be useful in advocacy or fundraising. The first section of the workshop will cover how to collect and record the most basic
information on services and program participants that funders usually require. Questions covered will include: How do I get
started What kind of forms do I need Do I want to put all the information into an electronic format The second part of the
workshop will cover the basic of how to expand data collection beyond the basic requirements that funders ordinarily seek.
Attendees will examine a series of advocacy and epidemiology needs that are currently unaddressed, and will participate in
developing a simple data tool to capture the information. Questions covered will include: What participant needs are ignored
by the current services/advocacy system What are some basic approaches to collecting this information How can I collect
this information in a low threshold harm reduction setting
Donald Grove has worked with syringe exchange data in New York City since 1995, when the database used by the Lower East Side
Needle Exchange broke down and he had to figure out how to make it work again. Since that time he has participated in local,
State and national syringe exchange evaluation efforts. From 1998 until 2006, he managed data for the Harm Reduction Coalition.
Since 2006, as a consultant he has provided technical assistance to harm reduction programs on data and evaluation.
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