Category: News & Announcements

The latest news from HaRRT Center

Dr. Susan Collins Op-Ed on Involuntary Treatment

Posted on | by Emily Taylor

In an op-ed in PubliCola, HaRRT Center codirector, Dr. Susan Collins, highlights the importance of defining terms in policy discussions about involuntary treatment. Unlike mandated treatment and other means of coercion, involuntary treatment strips people of their civil liberties, and decades of worldwide research show it precipitates poor treatment outcomes — including relapse, reincarceration, and overdose death. It should remain a treatment of last resort, reserved for rare, life-threatening cases. What needs expansion is a full range of voluntary, evidence-based options — from harm reduction services to inpatient SUD care — that are affordable and accessible to people who use substances and their families.

https://publicola.com/2025/09/25/the-siren-song-of-forced-drug-treatment/

Our Students Presented eHaRT-A Findings!

Posted on | by Emily Taylor

We are so proud of our student research assistants who created and presented a poster at the UW Undergraduate Research Symposium! Kazu, Rachel, and Ryan (above) did a wonderful job presenting some of our findings from the eHaRT-A Phase 1 data. In short, participants found the eHaRT-A to be feasible, acceptable, and usable. Click the poster below to view a higher definition version. We have taken feedback from these interviews to help further shape the eHaRT-A which is now in the RCT phase.

Harm Reduction Talking Circles Article

Posted on | by Emily Taylor

The primary outcomes from our Harm Reduction Talking Circles (HaRTC) study have been published in the Journal of Community Psychology! You can read the full article here: https://depts.washington.edu/harrtlab/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Nelson-et-al-2024-hartc.pdf

In summary:

“Although the single‐arm study design precludes causal inferences, participants evinced statistically significant decreases in days of alcohol use and alcohol‐related harm over the three timepoints. Additionally, both sense of spirituality, which is a factor of cultural connectedness, and health‐related quality of life increased over time as a function of the number of HaRTC sessions attended. Virtual HaRTC shows initial feasibility and acceptability as a culturally aligned intervention for AI/AN people with AUD. Future randomized controlled trials will provide a test of the efficacy of this approach.”

Participants Needed!

Posted on | by Emily Taylor

UPDATE: We have reached the recruitment quota for this aim of the study. Please keep an eye out for other opportunities!

Hello!

Exciting update! We are happy to report that we will be partnering with Harm Reduction Treatment, Training & Technical Solutions (HaRT3S) to support development of a mobile app version of our Harm Reduction Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder (mHaRT-A).

The aims of this initial project are:

  1. Development of the mHaRT-A prototype
  2. Lab-based usability testing of mHaRT-A
  3. Feasibility and acceptability field study of mHaRT-A

We are excited to embark on this new project that builds on our strengths and community partnerships, while also pushing us outside our comfort zones in pursuit of more accessible and effective harm reduction treatment options for all!

All the best,

The HaRRT Center Team

Our Book on Harm Reduction is Now Available!

Posted on | by Emily Taylor

Drs. Collins and Clifasefi have released a book that goes over the history of harm reduction, empirical evidence for harm reduction treatment (HaRT), and provides practitioners with the tools to integrate harm reduction in daily practice. Input from community members is included and we would like to thank them for their valuable contribution to both this book and the work we do every day.

The authors are donating royalties to community-led harm-reduction organizations. You can find the link to purchase below, thank you for the support!
https://www.hogrefe.com/us/shop/harm-reduction-approaches-93326.html

WA State Legislative Special Session

Posted on | by Emily Taylor

As the WA State legislative special session convenes today, let’s all remember to support people who have substance use disorders, not punish them. “It’s not only the right thing to do, it what works.” Read more on evidence-based ways to end the war on drugs in PubliCola op ed from HaRRT Center codirector, Susan Collins, today.”

Here’s the link: https://publicola.com/2023/05/16/we-must-support-people-who-use-substances-not-punish-them-heres-how/

Our WSU Spokane Team is Hiring!

Posted on | by Emily Taylor

We have posted a full time, Research Study Assistant role through WSU to work in collaboration with the UW HaRRT Center on our studies that intersect Native health and harm reduction treatment for substance use disorder. Currently, the primary projects on which this person will be assisting include randomized controlled trials of patient-centered and culturally aligned substance use interventions that we have codeveloped with community members with lived experience of substance use disorder and the community-based agencies that serve them.

The Research Study Assistant will be responsible for answering our study hotline, meeting with community partners and behavioral health treatment sites; ordering, managing and shipping materials to sites; and conducting repeated study interviews with participants regarding their sense of cultural connection, their alcohol use and related harm and their health-related quality of life.

We are looking forward to talking to applicants who have experience working in Native communities, care deeply about the Native community and are excited to support a more culturally aligned and acceptance-based way forward to working with people experiencing alcohol-related harm. Please forward the job description link below to your respective networks.

https://wsu.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/…/Research-Study…