Community-Driven Research with People Who Use Drugs: A Virtual Project During Multiple Epidemics

Sociological approaches to digital and community-engaged research experienced significant innovation in recent years. This article examines developing and implementing a primarily virtual community-driven research (CDR) project with the National Survivors Union, the American national drug-users union, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Relationships between researchers and directly impacted people, such as people who use drugs, face many barriers. These issues were exacerbated during COVID-19 when in-person research decreased while drug-related harms increased. In response, this project modified the CDR model for drug-use research. The CDR model is particularly beneficial for studies with marginalized populations who may mistrust researchers. In CDR, impacted community members are fundamental project drivers. This project's data are based on 29 months of weekly group meetings in National Survivors Union online spaces, group and individual text conversations, phone calls, and shared-document group work. The project co-developed methods for CDR with directly impacted people, including community-initiated research questions, low-threshold methods, collaborative writing strategies, coauthorship practices foregrounding directly impacted perspectives, and multiple dissemination forms. Modified CDR expands sociological methods for digital research, citizen science, and community-engaged research with vulnerable, criminalized groups. This approach may aid inclusive, innovative sociological scholarship and effective public health policy for reducing morbidity and mortality during multiple crises.