People who use drugs in hospital settings: 'Moving towards a person-centred harm reduction model'

Abstract

People who use drugs often continue to use drugs while in hospital. However, health-care systems often expect abstinence from drugs as a condition of engagement in various services. This commentary piece proposes that this approach is inconsistent with the principles of person-centred care. A harm reduction-based approach in conjunction with collaboration of people who use drugs is proposed as a model for providing person-centred care to people who use drugs during hospital-based treatment.

Keywords: harm reduction; hospital; people who use drug; person-centred care.