Perceptions of access to harm reduction services during the COVID-19 pandemic among people who inject drugs in Chicago

Abstract

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic amplified the risk environment for people who inject drugs (PWID), making continued access to harm reduction services imperative. Research has shown that some harm reduction service providers were able to continue to provide services throughout the pandemic. Most of these studies, however, focused on staff perspectives, not those of PWID. Our study examines changes in perceptions of access to harm reduction services among PWID participating in a longitudinal study conducted through the University of Illinois-Chicago’s Community Outreach Intervention Project field sites during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsResponses to a COVID-19 module added to the parent study survey that assessed the impact of COVID-19 on PWID participating in an ongoing longitudinal study were analyzed to understand how study participants’ self-reported access to harm reduction services changed throughout the pandemic. Mixed effects logistic regression was used to examine difficulty in syringe access as an outcome of COVID-19 phase.ResultsMost participants reported that access to syringes and naloxone remained the same as prior to the pandemic. Participants had significantly higher odds of reporting difficulty in accessing syringes earlier in the pandemic.ConclusionsThe lack of perceived changes in harm reduction access by PWID and the decrease in those reporting difficulty accessing syringes as the pandemic progressed suggests the efficacy of adaptations to harm reduction service provision (e.g., window and mobile service) during the pandemic. Further research is needed to understand how the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted PWIDs’ engagement with harm reduction services.