Program

Physician Assistant M.S.

Number of Pages

112

Year Approved

2022

First Advisor

Klein, Alicia

Second Reader

Sara Nibbelink;

Abstract

Injection drug use along with the opioid epidemic have contributed to many problems facing communities locally and nationally. Preventative and harm reduction measures are important for individual and public health due to the adverse outcomes of injection drug use such as increased transmission of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and human immunodeficiency virus, as well as increased rates of opioid overdose (CDC, 2019; Strain, 2021). One preventative approach, syringe exchange programs (SEPs), have been shown to reduce the amount of contaminated needles and rate of infections while increasing access to additional resources and likelihood to attend a treatment program (Hagan et al., 2000; Hurley et al., 1997; Tookes et al., 2012). Clinic 555 currently operates a SEP in Saint Paul, Minnesota and expressed a need to acquire funding for the development of a mobile syringe exchange program (J. Saavedra, personal communication, January 19, 2022). This project served to aid Clinic 555 to acquire funding by assisting with writing sections A1, A2, and B of the grant application for the Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Fiscal Year 2022 Harm Reduction Program Grant. Researchers compiled a literature review to demonstrate the need for and advantages of SEPs, describe the benefits of mobile health clinics, and display the demographics of the target population. The goal of this community service project to aid in the contribution of the grant writing process was successful as Clinic 555 incorporated the completed sections into the final grant proposal. Clinic 555 was notified in June 2022 that they were not selected as recipients for the SAMHSA grant (J. Saavedra, personal communication, June 1, 2022). Clinic 555 did express their intentions to further utilize the contributions from this project for future grant applications.

Degree Name

Masters of Science in Physician Assistant

Document Type

Masterʼs thesis

Download

Share

COinS