Boston Medical Center (BMC) Grayken Center for Addiction Training and Technical Assistance (TTA)

A Resource for Healthcare and Social Services Professionals

Harm Reduction: Laying the Groundwork

January 15, 2025
3:00 pm–4:30 pm ET

This training reviews the medical ethics and tenets of harm reduction and their importance in expanding the care continuum for people who use drugs. It provides examples for devising policies influenced by harm reduction. Further, it explores the legalities of harm reduction practices in different healthcare settings, including considerations for licensed providers.

Please read the Accreditation Information section of this page to learn about the requirements for receiving credit or a certificate of completion.

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Virtual meeting

Via Zoom

Description

This training reviews the medical ethics and tenets of harm reduction and their importance in expanding the care continuum for people who use drugs. It provides examples for devising policies influenced by harm reduction. Further, it explores the legalities of harm reduction practices in different healthcare settings, including considerations for licensed providers.

Intended audience

The entire multidisciplinary team providing treatment for substance use disorders in an office-based setting as well as anyone in a clinical or non-clinical position that is interested in learning about harm reduction.

Speakers

Justin Alves, RN, FNP-BC, ACRN, AACRN, CARN, CNE (he/him)

Justin is a clinical nurse educator with Boston Medical Center's (BMC) Grayken Center for Addiction Training and Technical Assistance, a Family Nurse Practitioner in General Internal Medicine at BMC, and co-medical director of BMC’s Stimulant Treatment and Recovery Team (START) clinic. Justin earned a master’s in nursing from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, a Post-Master's Family Nurse Practitioner certificate from the University of Massachusetts-Boston and is certified as a Certified Addiction Registered Nurse through the Addictions Nursing Certification Board.

Latisha Goullaud-Rogers, CARC

Latisha is a mother in long-term recovery from a substance use disorder and a Trauma and Parenting Trainer with the Moms Do Care Grant at the Institute for Health and Recovery, funded by SAMHSA, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services. She has years of experience helping mothers and families navigate their most suitable recovery path. She is an enthusiastic harm reduction advocate who echoes harm reduction strategies that promote compassion and prevent fatalities among people who use drugs. 

Objectives

Following this training, participants will have the knowledge to:

  1. List the four ethical principles for harm reduction as a practice and a philosophy.
  2. Describe harm reduction as a set of practical skills to reduce harms associated with substance use.
  3. Describe harm reduction as a philosophy to create equity in healthcare and promote wellness throughout populations of vulnerable people.
  4. Integrate harm reduction as a philosophy into clinical practice.
  5. Integrate harm reduction into clinical practice.

Sponsored by

Boston Medical Center Grayken Center for Addiction TTA, Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (DPH/BSAS)

Funding for out of state attendees is provided by the Opioid Response Network (ORN).

Funding for this initiative was made possible (in part) by grant no. 1H79TI085588-02 from SAMHSA. The views expressed in written conference materials or publications and by speakers and moderators do not necessarily reflect the official policies of the Department of Health and Human Services; nor does mention of trade names, commercial practices, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Accreditation information

REQUIREMENTS for credit

  1. Register for training.
  2. Arrive/log into the Zoom meeting with the same email address associated with your addictiontraining.org user account no more than 10 minutes after designated start time for program.
  3. Identify yourself by typing your full name, ensuring your zoom name matches that used to register for training (or you cannot be marked on attendance).
  4. Be present through the end of the activity (i.e. until the designated end time of training).
  5. Complete evaluation within 2 weeks of program completion.

Please note this policy is strictly enforced for accreditation purposes. Participants will forfeit collection of credit and certificates of completion if more than 10 minutes of the training is missed.

Joint Accreditation Statement for CME, Nursing, Social Work and Psychology

In support of improving patient care, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

CME

Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Nursing

Nursing Contact Hours: 1.50 contact hours, of which 0.00 are eligible for pharmacology credit.

Social Work

As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 1.50 clinical continuing education credits.

American Psychological Association (APA) CE Designation Statement

Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibility for the content of the programs. 

New York State Psychology Credit

Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine Barry M. Manuel Center for Continuing Education is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0181 Note: NYS psychologists must attend all sessions for credit. Partial credit is not allowed.             

The Department’s approval of a provider of continuing education does not constitute the Department’s endorsement of the content, positions or practices that may be addressed in any specific continuing education course offered by the approved provider.

LMHC

BMC Grayken Center of Addiction TTA has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7188. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. BMC Grayken Center of Addiction TTA is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. For this program, 1.50 contact hours will be offered to participants who attend the training and complete the evaluation.

LADC/CADC & Recovery Coach

Boston Medical Center Grayken Center for Addiction Training and Technical Assistance is approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (DPH/BSAS) to award LADC/CADC and Recovery Coaches who complete this training 1.50 continuing education credits. 

Community Health Worker

Boston Medical Center Grayken Center for Addiction Training and Technical Assistance is approved by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Board of Community Health Workers to award community health workers who complete this training 1.50 continuing education credits.

Disclaimer

Continuing education (CE) requirements vary by license and jurisdiction. When requesting continuing education credits, please ensure you are following the rules and regulations determined by the board regulating your license. Boston Medical Center Grayken Center for Addiction TTA does not oversee adherence to licensing requirements and regulations.

THIS CONTINUING EDUCATION PROGRAM IS INTENDED SOLELY FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES FOR QUALIFIED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS. IN NO EVENT SHALL BOSTON UNIVERSITY BE LIABLE FOR ANY DECISION MADE OR ACTION TAKEN IN RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE PROGRAM. IN NO EVENT SHOULD THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE PROGRAM BE USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL CARE. NO PHYSICIAN-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP IS BEING ESTABLISHED. IN NO EVENT SHOULD INFORMATION IN THE MATERIALS REGARDING LAWS, REGULATIONS, OR LEGAL LIABILITY BE CONSIDERED LEGAL ADVICE OR USED AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR CONSULTING WITH AN ATTORNEY.

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Grayken Center for Addiction TTA is a program of Boston Medical Center (BMC), a 514-bed academic medical center located in Boston's historic South End and the largest safety-net hospital in New England.

Funding for Grayken Center for Addiction TTA is provided by:

Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS)
GE Foundation
Opioid Response Network

The content on this site and the content presented by Grayken Center for Addiction TTA is intended solely to inform and educate healthcare and social service professionals, and shall not be used for medical advice and is not a substitute for the advice or treatment of a qualified medical professional. The hospital, the program, and the contributors are not acting as health care providers or professional consultants on behalf of any specific patient and disclaim establishing a provider-patient relationship with any specific patient.


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