Youth-Focused Harm Reduction for Substance Use Prevention and Mental Well-Being

Format

Individual Presentation

Format

Individual Presentation

First Presenter's Institution

Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University

First Presenter’s Email Address

jacquelyn.mcmillan@famu.edu

First Presenter's Brief Biography

Dr. Jacquelyn McMillan is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at Florida A&M University, a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW/SW13959), and a qualified supervisor for registered clinical social work interns. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from the University of Florida in 1990. She earned her MSW in 1997 and her PhD in 2003 from Florida State University. Dr. McMillan’s interests include therapeutic interventions for children and adults with mental health issues; research on enhanced scale development to assess emotional and behavioral tendencies in children and adolescents; and student social work research development and dissemination. Dr. McMillan has over twenty-five years of experience working with youth, adolescents, and young adults in her profession and within the community. She enjoys teaching undergraduate research methods in social work practice as well as chemical dependency and mental health courses. Dr. Jacquelyn McMillan is a member of the Florida Higher Education Substance Use Disorder Consortium representing the social work program at Florida A&M University. She also continues to support the ongoing work and educational initiatives of the SAMHSA-funded Rural Opioid Technical Assistance (ROTA) projects. These include addressing harm reduction interventions designed to save lives.

Submitter

I am submitting this proposal as one of the presenter(s)

Location

Westbrook

Strand #1

Health: Mental & Physical Health

Strand #2

Home: Family & Community Engagement

Relevance

Strand #1: Mental and Physical Health

Substance use among youth and their family members can be detrimental to physical health and mental well-being. This presentation will focus on providing interventions and harm reduction strategies to help in prevention of deleterious effects of substance use.

Strand #2: Home: Family & Community Engagement

Harm reduction interventions are focused on engaging families and community stakeholders in prevention to protect children and youth from the deleterious effects associated with substance use, misuse, and poisoning.

Brief Program Description

This presentation will address interventions associated with a youth-focused harm reduction approach for mental health and substance use. The presenters will provide an overview of this approach and discuss the efficacy of harm reduction interventions for improving education and awareness about opioid overdosing, fentanyl poisoning, and other detrimental substance use practices in families. The goal is to save families by saving lives.

Summary

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reports that the U.S. is experiencing the most significant substance use and overdose epidemic it has ever faced, exacerbated by a worldwide pandemic, and driven by the proliferation of highly potent synthetic opioids containing primarily fentanyl and other dangerous substances.

Provisional data from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that we have crossed the tragic milestone of a predicted 100,000 overdose deaths in 12 months from May 2020 to April 2021; this represents a nearly 29 percent increase compared to the same window of time the previous year. These numbers continue to grow exponentially each year.

Harm reduction services save lives by being available and accessible in a matter that emphasizes the need for humility and compassion toward people who use drugs. The National Harm Reduction Coalition trains first responders, certified addiction specialists, other professionals, and caregivers to help in the prevention of fatalities due to opioids and other harmful substances or activities. Reduction plays a significant role in preventing drug-related deaths and offering access to healthcare, social services, and treatment. These services decrease overdose fatalities, acute life-threatening infections related to unsterile drug injection, and chronic diseases such as HIV/HCV.

Harm reduction interventions associated with mental health and substance use are useful in:

  • Connecting individuals and families to overdose education, counseling, and referral services
  • Providing users and their families, access to opioid overdose reversal medications (e.g., naloxone) to prevent the risk of overdose and provide resources to family and friends trained to use it when responding to an overdose.
  • Reduce stigma associated with substance use and co-occurring mental health concerns or disorders
  • Promote a philosophy of hope and healing by utilizing those with lived experience of recovery in the management of harm reduction services, and connecting those who have expressed interest to treatment, peer support workers, family support groups, and other recovery support services.
  • Reduce overdose deaths, promote linkages to care, facilitate co-location of services as part of a comprehensive, integrated approach. Save children and families. Save lives.

Evidence

Barret, et al (2022) addresses the need for more evidence-based practice focusing on "child-centered harm reduction". The current focus of prevention programming and policies is on adult users. An ever widening gap exists when it comes to addressing issues facing youth effected by substance use and mental health concerns surrounding it.

The Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC, 2024) indicate that 15% of high school students reported having ever used select illicit or injection drugs (i.e. cocaine, inhalants, heroin, methamphetamines, hallucinogens, or ecstasy); 14% of students reported misusing prescription opioids; students who report ever using prescription drugs without a doctor’s prescription are more likely than other students to have been the victim of physical violence, etc. These youth-focused risk factors are associate with exposure and use of drugs and most often also have mental health origins as well.

SAMHSA provides a guide to support preventative youth services and resources for youth and young adults at risk for substance use. Best practices and research associated with this topic are addressed.

References:

Barrett, D., Stoicescu, C., Thumath, M., Maynard, E., Turner, R., Shirley-Beavan, S., Kurcevic, E., Petersson, F., Hasselgard-Rowe, J., Giacomello, C., Wahlin, E., & Lines, R. (2022). Child-centered harm reduction. International Journal of Drug Policy, 109. Centers for Disease Control (2023). Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRSS). CDC. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): Substance Misuse Prevention for Young Adults. Publication No. PEP19-PL-Guide-1 Rockville, MD: National Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2019.

Learning Objective 1

Understand "child-centered harm reduction" as focusing on youth and their families in prevention of substance use and mental health concerns and reduce stigma associated with them.

Learning Objective 2

Promote a philosophy of hope and healing by utilizing those with lived experience of recovery in the management of harm reduction services, and connecting those who have expressed interest to treatment, peer support workers, family support groups, and other recovery support services.

Learning Objective 3

Reduce overdose deaths, promote linkages to care, facilitate co-location of services as part of a comprehensive, integrated approach. Save children and families. Save lives.

Keyword Descriptors

Substance use; mental health; child centered harm reduction; opioids and fentanyl; drug poisoning; harm reduction strategies

Presentation Year

2025

Start Date

3-4-2025 2:45 PM

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Mar 4th, 2:45 PM

Youth-Focused Harm Reduction for Substance Use Prevention and Mental Well-Being

Westbrook

This presentation will address interventions associated with a youth-focused harm reduction approach for mental health and substance use. The presenters will provide an overview of this approach and discuss the efficacy of harm reduction interventions for improving education and awareness about opioid overdosing, fentanyl poisoning, and other detrimental substance use practices in families. The goal is to save families by saving lives.