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. 2022 Oct:108:103815.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103815. Epub 2022 Aug 8.

COVID-19 and the opportunity for gender-responsive virtual and remote substance use treatment and harm reduction services

Melissa Perri  1 , Rose A Schmidt  2 , Adrian Guta  3 , Nat Kaminski  4 , Katherine Rudzinski  5 , Carol Strike  6
Affiliations

COVID-19 and the opportunity for gender-responsive virtual and remote substance use treatment and harm reduction services

Melissa Perri et al. Int J Drug Policy. 2022 Oct.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the uptake of virtual and remote service delivery in the substance use field, which was previously uncommon. This swift uptake of virtual services provides an opportunity to improve service design to meet the diverse needs of women and gender-diverse people. Such services have the potential to better meet the needs of women and gender-diverse people by allowing for increased choice, control, and autonomy, enabling empowerment, facilitating greater considerations of power relations, violence, childcare responsibilities, and fostering greater inclusion of trans and non-binary people. This commentary aims to identify how virtual and remote delivery of substance use treatment and harm reduction services can be gender-responsive. We highlight the role gender transformative services play in meeting the unique needs of women and gender-diverse people who use drugs both during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. By using the unique window of opportunity COVID-19 has created to develop and deliver gender-transformative programs, we can help address the detrimental gaps in service accessibility and effectiveness that have persistently been experienced by women and gender-diverse people who use drugs.

Keywords: COVID-19; Gender; Gender-responsive; Harm reduction; Spotting; Transgender; Virtual and remote services; Women.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations of Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

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Fig. 1
Gender Responsive Continuum1. 1© 2013 BC Centre of Excellence for Women's Health; Reprinted with permission.
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