Informed implementation practice - formative research of a mobile drug consumption room in Brno, Czech Republic

Drug consumption rooms (DCRs) are harm reduction facilities providing safer and hygienic setting for supervised administration of drugs aimed at decreasing negative health and social consequences of drug use. The first DCR in Czechia was opened in September 2023 in city of Brno in a mobile form operating in a socially excluded area (SEA). A research project informed the implementation of the DCR.

A mixed methods design was applied in the following phases: desk review, research before and after the launch of the mobile DCR, and routine monitoring of programme performance. Two cross-sectional questionnaire surveys among PWUDs (n = 131 and 135), ethnographic observation, focus group (n = 19), interviews with PWUDs (n = 26 and 19), with personnel of addiction services and local officials (n = 16 and 12), and residents (n = 7 and 6) were performed prior to and after the launch of the DCR. Thematic analysis of qualitative data, descriptive and regression analyses of quantitative data were performed.

There was a need and high willingness to use the DCR among potential clients. The significant predictors were opioid use (adjusted odds ratio, AOR = 3.4 in survey 1 and 3.9 in survey 2), drug injection in the last 30 days (AOR 4.3 in survey 1), being in the probationary period during the previous 30 days (AOR 10.0 in survey 1), witnessing an overdose in the past 30 days (AOR 8.5 in survey 2), HCV positivity ever in life (AOR 2.9 in survey 2), living in SEA (AOR 2.7 in survey 2) and Roma ethnicity (AOR 2.8 in survey 2). The beginnings of the DCR were relatively slow with low initial number of clients and drug administrations. However, with time, and programme adjustments following research results, the attendance at the facility has grown.

Research was instrumental in shaping the DCR in Brno before and during its implementation. The DCR showed a potential to attract the most vulnerable PWUDs from SEA. Despite a slow start, the DCR has become an integral part of low-threshold services for PWUDs in Brno and has proven its feasibility in the Czech settings.