ArticleHarm reduction journal2016
Finding safety: a pilot study of managed alcohol program participants' perceptions of housing and quality of life.
Article in Harm reduction journal, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 43 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
43 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Outcomes reported in evaluations of programs designed to improve health in Indigenous people.Health services research · 2021Pooled it
- Stakeholder perspectives on the implementation and impact of Indigenous health interventions: A systematic review of qualitative studies.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2021Pooled it
- What constitutes effective problematic substance use treatment from the perspective of people who are homeless? A systematic review and meta-ethnography.Harm reduction journal · 2020Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Daily variations and factors related to alcohol avoidance motivation and alcohol use among adults who are unhoused.The American journal of drug and alcohol abuse · 2026Trial
- Assessing the feasibility, acceptability and accessibility of a peer-delivered intervention to reduce harm and improve the well-being of people who experience homelessness with problem substance use: the SHARPS study.Harm reduction journal · 2022Trial
- A peer-delivered intervention to reduce harm and improve the well-being of homeless people with problem substance use: the SHARPS feasibility mixed-methods study.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2022Trial
- Associations of resilience with quality of life levels in adults experiencing homelessness and mental illness: a longitudinal study.Health and quality of life outcomes · 2021Trial
- Jail and Emergency Department Utilization in the Context of Harm Reduction Treatment for People Experiencing Homelessness and Alcohol Use Disorder.Journal of urban health : bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine · 2021Trial
- Integrating a model of care within a community-based managed alcohol program with indigenous men experiencing homelessness and alcohol use: a retrospective chart review.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Realist review of managed alcohol programmes for people experiencing alcohol dependence and homelessness: what works, for whom, and in what circumstances?Harm reduction journal · 2026Review
- Practical considerations for residential-managed alcohol programs: lessons from Ottawa Inner City Health.Harm reduction journal · 2026Article
- Managed alcohol programs for Indigenous Peoples in Canada: A scoping review.PLOS mental health · 2026Article
- Pathways to healing: balancing the tensions between harm reduction and cultural practices in a managed alcohol program for Indigenous adults in Calgary, Canada.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Article
- Evaluation of a Residential Managed Alcohol Program for Aboriginal Peoples Experiencing Homelessness and Alcohol Dependence: Short-Term Impacts of an Australian Trial.Drug and alcohol review · 2025Article
- A pilot evaluation of managed alcohol programs operating in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Employing Bayesian analysis to establish a cut-off point and assess stigma prevalence in substance use disorder: a comprehensive study of the Chinese version of the Substance Use Stigma Mechanism Scale.Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology · 2024Article
- "Give me the reigns of taking care of myself with a home": Healing environments in an Indigenous-led alcohol harm reduction program.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Motives for alcohol use, risky drinking patterns and harm reduction practices among people who experience homelessness and alcohol dependence in Montreal.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThere is a higher prevalence of alcohol use and severe alcohol dependence among homeless populations. The combination of alcohol use and lack of housing contributes to increased vulnerability to the harms of substance use including stigma, injury, illness, and death. Managed alcohol programs (MAPs) administer prescribed doses of alcohol at regular intervals to people with severe and chronic alcohol dependence and homelessness. As a pilot for a larger national study of MAPs, we conducted an in-depth evaluation of one program in Ontario, Canada. In this paper, we report on housing and quality of life outcomes and experiences of the MAP participants and staff.
methodsWe conducted a pilot study using mixed methods. The sample consisted of 38 people enrolled in or eligible for entry into a MAP who completed a structured quantitative survey that included measures related to their housing and quality of life. All of the participants self-identified as Indigenous. In addition, we conducted 11 in-depth qualitative interviews with seven MAP residents and four program staff and analyzed the interviews using constant comparative analysis. The qualitative analysis was informed by Rhodes' risk environment framework.
resultsWhen compared to controls, MAP participants were more likely to retain their housing and experienced increased safety and improved quality of life compared to life on the streets, in jails, shelters, or hospitals. They described the MAP as a safe place characterized by caring, respect, trust and a nonjudgmental approach with a sense of family and home as well as opportunities to reconnect with family members.
conclusionsThe MAP was, as described by participants, a safer environment and a home with feelings of family and a sense of community that countered stigma, loss, and dislocation with potential for healing and recovery. The MAP environment characterized by caring, respect, trust, a sense of home, "feeling like family", and the opportunities for family and cultural reconnections is consistent with First Nations principles for healing and recovery and principles of harm reduction.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.