Staff views on overdose prevention in permanent supportive housing.

The issue of overdose prevention in Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is a critical concern, as PSH tenants are at high risk of overdose due to a combination of individual and environmental factors. Despite being considered the gold standard intervention for chronic homelessness, PSH settings often lack adequate measures to prevent overdoses. To address this gap, a study was conducted to examine the knowledge and perspectives of PSH staff on overdose prevention. The study involved a survey of staff from 20 PSH buildings in New York, with 178 staff members responding out of 286 invitations, resulting in a response rate of 62.2%. The survey aimed to assess staff knowledge of overdose and their perspectives on implementing overdose prevention practices in PSH. The survey results showed that PSH staff have a generally positive attitude towards implementing overdose prevention practices, with 91.6-97.2% of staff agreeing or completely agreeing that such practices are appropriate and acceptable in PSH settings. However, staff expressed less certainty about the feasibility of implementing these practices, with only 62.4-65.5% agreeing or completely agreeing that it is feasible. Notably, most staff (77.3%) felt that overdose prevention was a top priority in their building. The study also found that while most PSH staff (median = 85.0%) had received naloxone kits and training in overdose response, fewer tenants (median = 22.5%) had received such training. These findings suggest that while PSH staff are supportive of overdose prevention practices, there is a need for targeted interventions to address the feasibility of implementing these practices and to increase tenant access to overdose prevention resources. The study's results can inform the development of interventions to help PSH buildings reduce tenant overdose risk and improve overall well-being. Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40251575/