Benefits and barriers: a rapid-ethnographic study on the perspectives of potential and actual clients of Athens’ drug consumption room
Addressing DCR barriers could increase service access, reduce the presence and visibility of street-based drug use, and improve public health outcomes for people who use drugs in Athens. Indeed, some of these barriers have been addressed since the research was conducted (e.g. by expanding operating hours, increasing the number of staff with lived experience, offering on-site drug checking), illustrating the value of evaluating DCRs and subsequently adapting design and delivery based on the perspectives of actual and potential clients.
Authors
- Benjamin D. Scher
- Gillian W. Shorter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5752-2297)
- Nikolaos Poulopoulos
- Christos Anastasiou
- David K. Humphreys
- Benjamin W. Chrisinger
Institutions
- Tufts University (US)
- Queen's University Belfast (GB)
- European Union (BE)
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (GR)
- Oxford Policy Management (GB)
- Princeton Public Schools (US)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- Tampere University (FI)
- National Infrastructures for Research and Technology - GRNET S.A (GR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Harm Reduction Journal
- Published
- 2026-01-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-025-01371-0
- Primary Topic
- HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00