Elucidating Harm Reduction Principles in a Client-Centered Representative Payee Program.

Area of Science:

• Social Sciences
• Public Health
• Intervention Design

Background:

• Harm Reduction aims to minimize risks associated with behaviors without demanding complete cessation.
• The Client-Centered Representative Payee (CCRP) intervention adapts Social Security Administration (SSA) policy using relational harm reduction.
• Understanding the integration of harm reduction within CCRP is crucial for service providers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and elucidate the presence of harm reduction principles within the CCRP intervention.
• To create a replicable blueprint for implementing CCRP with a focus on harm reduction.
• To explore how CCRP empowers clients and builds trust through a harm reduction framework.

Main Methods:

• Human-Centered Design (HCD) methodologies were employed.
• Brainstorming sessions with 13 CCRP-familiar individuals generated 88 statements.
• Statements were parsed, consolidated, and assigned to six harm reduction principles by a participant subgroup.

Main Results:

• 29 statements were identified as aligning with core harm reduction principles after data refinement.
• Harm reduction principles were found to be integral to the CCRP intervention.
• The study delineated how harm reduction fosters empowerment and trust in CCRP.

Conclusions:

• Delineating harm reduction within CCRP can guide providers in offering respectful and compassionate representative payee services.
• Implementing harm reduction principles in CCRP has the potential to improve client outcomes.
• This research provides a framework for replicating CCRP services rooted in harm reduction.