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What is Harm Reduction?
Harm reduction is an approach that aims to expand outreach to underserved communities of people suffering from substance use disorder. The goals are to prevent overdose, reduce the risk of transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV and Hep C, to improve the physical, mental, and social wellbeing of those served, and to diminish disparity by providing access to healthcare and other services that support recovery.
Riki Whitlock
UK Health Education Coordinator
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SERVICES PROVIDED IN WOODFORD COUNTY
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.Free HIV Education & Testing
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Free HEP C Education & Testing
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Referrals to mental and physical healthcare services
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Needle exchange
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Health education
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Distribution of Naloxone
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Mobile Outreach
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"To be effective, you have to show the people that you really are FOR THEM.
I really, really am...
I am for them."
The people we meet in service to our community come into harm reduction from all walks of life, and each of them have a story that is unique, important, and worthy of our best effort to help them navigate a path to wholeness.
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People who work in harm reduction also come from all walks of life. Some have experienced substance use disorder. Some have loved a person who has been lost to substance use disorder. Some have experienced injustice, discrimination, and abuse. And some are drawn to the field by what can only be described as a higher calling.
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Whatever the pathway, we are committed to removing the stigma that is associated with substance use disorder, so that we can reach
the people that society has otherwise dismissed as deviant, dangerous, disposable.
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2023 KY Harm Reduction Summit Presentations
