Using digital technology to reduce drug-related harms: a targeted service users' perspective of the Digital Lifelines Scotland programme.

Deaths due to drug overdose are an international issue, causing an estimated 128,000 global deaths in 2019. Scotland has the highest rate of drug-related deaths in Europe, with those in the most deprived areas at greater risk than those in affluent areas. There is a paucity of research on digital solutions, particularly from the perspective of those who use drugs who additionally access harm reduction and homelessness support services. The Digital Lifelines Scotland programme (DLS) provides vulnerable people who use/d drugs with digital devices to connect with services. This paper reports on the evaluation of the DLS from the perspective of service users who accessed services for those at risk of drug-related harms. A mixed methods approach was used including an online-survey (n = 19) and semi-structured interviews (n = 21). Survey data were analysed descriptively and interview data through inductive coding, informed by the Technology, People, Organisations and Macroenvironmental factors (TPOM) framework, to investigate the use, access, and availability of devices, and people's experiences and perceptions of them. Most participants lived in social/council housing (63.2%, n = 12), many lived alone (68.4%, n = 13). They were mainly over 40 years old and lived in a city. Participants described a desire for data privacy, knowledge, and education, and placed a nascent social and personal value on digital devices. Participants pointed to the person-centred individuality of the service provision as one of the reasons to routinely engage with services. Service users experienced an increased sense of value and there was a palpable sense of community, connection and belonging developed through the programme, including interaction with services and devices. This paper presents a unique perspective which documents the experiences of service users on the DLS. Participants illustrated a desire for life improvement and a collective and individual feeling of responsibility towards themselves and digital devices. Digital inclusion has the potential to provide avenues by which service users can safely and constructively access services and society to improve outcomes. This paper provides a foundation to further cultivate the insight of service users on digital solutions in this emerging area.

Strachan G ，Daneshvar H ，Carver H ，Greenhalgh J ，Matheson C ... -  《Harm Reduction Journal》

From Digital Inclusion to Digital Transformation in the Prevention of Drug-Related Deaths in Scotland: Qualitative Study.

Daneshvar H ，Carver H ，Strachan G ，Greenhalgh J ，Matheson C ... -  《JOURNAL OF MEDICAL INTERNET RESEARCH》

"You know, we can change the services to suit the circumstances of what is happening in the world": a rapid case study of the COVID-19 response across city centre homelessness and health services in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Parkes T ，Carver H ，Masterton W ，Falzon D ，Dumbrell J ，Grant S ，Wilson I ... -  《Harm Reduction Journal》

A peer-delivered intervention to reduce harm and improve the well-being of homeless people with problem substance use: the SHARPS feasibility mixed-methods study.

Parkes T ，Matheson C ，Carver H ，Foster R ，Budd J ，Liddell D ，Wallace J ，Pauly B ，Fotopoulou M ，Burley A ，Anderson I ，MacLennan G ... -  《-》

'They already operated like it was a crisis, because it always has been a crisis': a qualitative exploration of the response of one homeless service in Scotland to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parkes T ，Carver H ，Masterton W ，Falzon D ，Dumbrell J ，Grant S ，Wilson I ... -  《Harm Reduction Journal》