Young people and injection drug use: Is there a need to expand harm reduction services and support?

A complex array of intersecting social contextual factors are known to influence safer and/or unsafe practices among people who inject drugs. However, less is known about the social contextual factors that may specifically influence injection practices for young people who inject drugs. In this qualitative study, we explored with young people, ages 18-29, living in an urban centre in Nova Scotia, Canada, their perceptions and experiences of the social contextual factors that influence their safer and/or unsafe injection practices. We found that many of the social contextual factors the young people reported as influencing unsafe practices are at the micro-environmental level, and a number of these factors also affect adults (as per the literature). Methadone maintenance treatment was identified by a number of the participants as an important factor influencing safer practices. An expansion of harm reduction services and supports may help to address many of the social contextual factors identified by young people who inject drugs and should be considered given their important role in reducing the harms associated with injection drug use.