Resources

Past Presentation

An Introduction to Harm Reduction | October 6, 2022

Date of Presentation: October 6, 2022

Type: Past Presentation  

Audience: Clinical  Community  

Program: Community Health Representative ECHO Program  

Keywords: #community based  #harm reduction  #Peers  #principles  

In this presentation, Emma Elsner and Czarina Igama, provide an overview of harm reduction, discuss the spectrum of harm reduction, and share the principles of harm reduction. Then Emma and Czarina provide valuable insights to what harm reduction looks like at a Tribal Health Center, and discuss the vital importance of a community based peer harm reduction program.

Recording:

Presented by:

Emma Elsner | Czarina Igama

Emma Elsner is the Hepatitis C and Harm Reduction project lead at the Lummi Tribal Health Center on the Lummi Nation reservation in Bellingham, Washington. She is a graduate from Western Washington University with a BA in Sociology. She has worked at the Lummi Tribal Health Center for 1.5 years working towards the micro-elimination of Hepatis C from the community, which goes hand in hand with running the Primary Integrated Care Syringe Service program through a harm reduction lens. She hopes to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant working in rural medicine and is committed to expanding care to the medically underserved.

Czarina Igama, MA-P is the Hepatitis C and Harm Reduction Project Assistant within the Harm Reduction Office at the Lummi Tribal Health Center. She recently obtained a B.S. in Public Health and a B.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Western Washington University. She is passionate about serving vulnerable, marginalized communities through a lens that is cognizant of the social determinants of health to improve health outcomes. She is currently preparing to apply to medical school to pursue an MD/MPH dual degree as it aligns with her values of an interdisciplinary approach to education and healthcare. In the future, she hopes to further intersect her interests in medicine and public health by pursuing work in global neurology.

Date added: October 6, 2022