Harm Reduction
"You cannot understand someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes."
Perhaps we will never know the name of the first person who spoke these words but the fact it is so well known speaks to the importance of empathy in living a meaningful life.
What is Harm Reduction?
Harm reduction is a proactive and evidence-based approach to reduce the negative personal and public health impacts of behavior associated with alcohol and other substance use at both the individual and community levels.
Harm reduction organizations incorporate a spectrum of strategies that meet people “where they are” and serve as a pathway to additional community prevention, treatment, and recovery services.
Open Hands implemented the Uwharrie Harm Reduction Initiative (make a hyperlink to website) in 2019 in partnership with Stanly County Health and Human Services and Stanly County EMS as a coordinated way to save lives and decrease the economic impacts substance use disorder is having in our communities.
