Program Refresh of Your Community Health’s Needle Syringe Programs

Your Community Health recently reviewed its Needle and Syringe Outreach Program across Melbourne’s North. 

The review highlighted a range of strengths and development areas for the program, including:

• Strong support from clients and staff for the current outreach service models.
• Cost-effective distribution of injecting equipment, well under the NSP average cost.
• Positive feedback from clients with 100 percent agreeing that staff treated them with respect and dignity.
• Difficulties for night outreach staff to effectively engage with stakeholders.
• Opportunities to develop and implement lived and living experience models of support.
• Opportunities to trial new models of harm reduction delivery, including secure dispensing units and low threshold pick-ups at fixed sites
• Consider restructuring program including increasing resources for stakeholder engagement and client referralsWe’re committed to implementing all thirteen recommendations from this review and are currently developing an implementation plan.

You can read the full report, including the Executive Summary, below. Thank you to our clients, staff and stakeholders who provided their valuable feedback and insights.