Photos from the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco 2018
Author: Emily Taylor
Drs. Susan Collins and Lonnie Nelson to lead new NIH-funded Harm-Reduction Talking Circles (HaRTC) project
Department Collaborating with Native Communities to Address Alcohol Use Disorder
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) has funded the Native Center for Alcohol Research and Education (NCARE) devoted to working with Native communities across the United States to co-create and evaluate interventions that address alcohol problems. This Center will be led by Dedra Buchwald, MD, ounding Director of Washington State University’s Partnerships for Native Health (P4NH), and will have contributions from department faculty, Seema Clifasefi, PhD, Susan Collins, PhD, Dennis Donovan, PhD, and Rick Ries, MD.
Three primary projects will be contained within the Center, including one co-led by Dr. Collins and her husband, Dr. Lonnie Nelson, who is a clinical psychologist, Native health researcher and codirector of WSU’s P4NH. They will be working with providers at the Seattle Indian Health Board to adapt and evaluate the integration of the HaRRT Center’s harm-reduction approach to alcohol use disorder (AUD) and the Native tradition of the talking circle. A talking circle is a gathering of people with a common concern who respectfully share their perspectives and “listen with their heart” while each individual speaks. Traditionally, talking circles have been used to address community problems, help in healing, and bring about community harmony.
Using a community based participatory research approach, an advisory board that is made up of researchers, traditional Native healers, providers at SIHB, and urban American Indians and Alaska Natives with lived experience of AUD will help shape and implement the study. Participants will be patients with AUD who receive primary care and behavioral health services at the Seattle Indian Health Board.
Drs. Collins and Nelson also recently provided a training on harm-reduction treatment (HaRT) for substance use disorders at the 7th Annual Northwest Tribal Opioid Symposium hosted by the Muckleshoot Tribe in November. Most Washington and some Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Alaska Tribes come to this annual event which Dr. Ries helped develop and annually facilitates together with the Muckleshoot Tribe.
Training on 12/13/2017: Harm Reduction for Substance Use
A training for clinicians on harm reduction treatment is going to be offered Wednesday, December 13th, from 9:00am – 5:00pm at Harborview Medical Center. Please see the flyer below for more information.
If you are interested in participating please email us at harrtlab@uw.edu.
Crosscut Article About the 1811 Artist Collective
Thank you very much to Crosscut for putting together this wonderful article about the 1811 Artist Collective!
http://crosscut.com/…/once-homeless-now-theyre-creating-art/
There’s still two weeks left to go check out the Telling our Stories exhibit at the UW School of Social Work. Original artwork will be on display until December 15th, but prints will always be available through us for $22. You can see all of the available prints on our Facebook page and order by contacting us at harrtlab@uw.edu or 855-320-1004.
HaRT-S article has been published!
Our article from Phase I of the Harm Reduction Treatment for Smoking (HaRT-S) study that we co-wrote with our UW undergraduate class has been published in the International Journal of Drug Policy! If you click on this link you can access the article free for the next two months.
If you are a UW student and want to learn more about our PSYCH/PBSCI 499 research course click here.
7th Annual Northwest Tribal Opiate Symposium 11/9/2017
Susan Collins and Lonnie Nelson co-presented harm reduction training for clinicians at the 7th Annual Northwest Tribal Opiate Symposium on November 9th, 2017. The training went really well with a crowded room of attendees!
ADAI Brown Bag Series Presentation 10/26/2017
Brown Bag Series
October 26th
12:00pm – 1:00pm, ADAI Conference Room
1107 NE 45th Street, Suite 120
Harm Reduction Treatment for Alcohol (HaRT-A): Meeting People Where They’re At
Susan E. Collins, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Harm Reduction Research and Treatment (HaRRT) Center
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
University of Washington – Harborview Medical Center
& Joey Stanton
Community Consultant
Harm Reduction Treatment for Alcohol (HaRT-A) aims to help people with alcohol use disorders reduce their experience of alcohol-related harm and improve their quality of life, without requiring a focus on use reduction or abstinence. It was developed through a 3-phase community-based participatory research process with people with the lived experience of homelessness and severe alcohol use disorders and staff and management at the agencies that serve them. In this presentation, we will discuss the treatment development process, outcomes and next steps.
The Telling Our Stories exhibit is open to the public 10/11 – 12/15 in the UW School of Social Work Gallery
SEATTLE, WA — The Telling Our Stories exhibit is open to the public October 11 – December 15, 2017,
in the University of Washington School of Social Work Gallery (1st floor), 4101 15th Ave. NE (M-F,
8 AM – 6 PM). A public reception is scheduled for October 11, 6 – 8 PM.
Imagined and created by the LEAP Artist Collective, a growing group of 1811 Eastlake residents,
“Telling our Stories: Art and Homelessness” highlights the vision of resident artists living at the
Downtown Emergency Service Center’s 1811 Eastlake building. The art pieces speak to themes of hope,
healing, reconnection and finding home. The artists seek to show that their life stories are
defined by more than just the experience of homelessness, and to share how art continues to
facilitate healing, even after finding permanent housing.
The School of Social Work gallery will be hung with artwork created by 1811 residents over the
Collective’s nearly three years of vibrant life. The opening reception will include music by
community members and a brief presentation from some of the artists.
The LEAP Artist collective was born out of a collaboration between researchers at the University of
Washington’s Harm Reduction Research and Treatment Center, and residents, staff and management of
the Downtown Emergency Service Center. All parties came together in 2014 to identify ways to reduce
alcohol-related harm, improve quality of life, and create healing in their community. The LEAP
Artist collective has been an ongoing source of pride in the growing connection between residents.
As one 1811 resident and artist put it, “Every time I look at [my art work], I think, ‘Hey, I did
this. I accomplished this.’ And it represents all of us.”
(LEAP stands for the Life Enhancing Alcohol-management Program.)
Sponsoring Organizations:
The Harm Reduction Research and Treatment (HaRRT) Center is located at
the University of Washington–Harborview Medical Center. HaRRT Center researchers, clinicians and
trainees work collaboratively with substance users, community members and organizations to develop,
conduct, evaluate and disseminate evidence-based interventions that help reduce substance-related
harm and improve quality of life for affected
individuals and their communities.
The Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) is a nonprofit organization of 400 professional staff,
board members, and community volunteers who strive to fulfill DESC’s mission to end chronic
homelessness in the Pacific Northwest. Since opening its first shelter in 1979, DESC has grown to
become the largest Puget Sound provider of award-winning, harm-reduction oriented housing, clinical
and supportive services to chronically homeless adults with co-occurring psychiatric, medical and
substance-use disorders.
The University of Washington School of Social Work is a recognized leader in solving the most
demanding social issues of our day through rigorous research, academic innovation and public
service. Among the nation’s top-ranked schools of social work, we recruit the best and the
brightest, nurture groundbreaking ideas, and partner strategically to challenge limits, redress
inequities and strengthen communities. Our fundamental purpose is to educate tomorrow’s social work
leaders, discover solutions that work in the real world, and build human capacity for lasting
social change.
To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at least 10 days in
advance at
206.543.6450/V, 206.543.6452/TTY, 206.685.7264 (FAX), or email dso@uw.edu
The LEAP Artist Collective has an art exhibition at the Art Not Terminal gallery at the Seattle Center throughout August!
Presentations at RSA June 23rd-27th, 2017
This year we presented during two sessions at the 40th Annual RSA Scientific Meeting:
UNDERSTANDING ALCOHOL USE AND TREATMENT
EFFECTS IN MARGINALIZED POPULATIONS
ORGANIZER/CHAIR: SUSAN E. COLLINS
LIFE ENHANCING ALCOHOL-MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (LEAP): COMMUNITY-BASED DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF HOUSING FIRST PROGRAMMING – SEEMA L. CLIFASEFI – A nonrandomized controlled trial of LEAP programming (N =118) indicated that participants receiving LEAP programming are more likely to participate in meaningful activities than control participants who received treatment as usual.
RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL OF HARM-REDUCTION TREATMENT FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE WITH AUDS – SUSAN E. COLLINS – A randomized controlled trial (N=180) of individual behavioral harm-reduction treatment for AUDs follows on a successful pilot study, which was associated with reduced alcohol quantity, frequency and problems.
AND
HEALTH DISPARITIES IN ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUG PROBLEMS AND HEALTH EQUITY APPROACHES (WORKSHOP)
TREATMENT AND PREVENTION: COMMUNITY PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES – SEEMA CLIFASEFI, SUSAN COLLINS, & LONNIE NELSON – CBPR intervention for housing-unstable urban Native Americans and Alaska Natives with substance use disorders.