The messages used to communicate about harm reduction are critical in garnering public support for adoption of harm reduction interventions. Despite the demonstrated effectiveness of harm reduction interventions at reducing overdose deaths and disease transmission, the USA has been slow to adopt harm reduction to scale. Implementation of evidence-based interventions has been hindered by a historical framing of drug use as a moral failure and related stigmatizing attitudes among the public toward people who use drugs. Understanding how professional harm reduction advocates communicate to audiences about the benefits of harm reduction is a critical step to designing persuasive messaging strategies.
Citation: White, S. A., Lee, R., Kennedy-Hendricks, A., Sherman, S. G., & McGinty, E. E. (2023). Perspectives of U.S. harm reduction advocates on persuasive message strategies. Harm reduction journal, 20(1), 112. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-023-00849-z
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