by Alan Jacques
NOVAS Initiatives, the largest provider of homeless services in the Mid-West region, has scooped a prestigious prize for research into preventing and responding to drug overdoses at their Limerick city base.
The group, which provides services to homeless people and those at risk of homelessness, has won an Irish Healthcare Award in a category for projects that promote healthy lifestyle and patient education, with a view to improving the health of at-risk populations.
The award was in recognition of Novas’ work in tackling the level of overdose among the homeless population at McGarry House on Alphonsus Street.
Chief executive Michael Goulding said the award was not only for the work the charity does to combat the issue but, more importantly, “a recognition of the scourge of overdose among the most vulnerable groups in our society”.
“More people die in Ireland each year from drug overdose than road traffic accidents, yet it fails to reach the political agenda. We hope this research will help to highlight the issue so that a consorted and pro-active response by government and the relevant agencies can be pursued,” he said.
The Research, undertaken by Quality Matters and the Graduate Entry Medical School University of Limerick, found that almost three quarters of the people who had participated in the research had previously overdosed, most within the last year, and 93 per cent had witnessed an overdose, again most within the last year.
“Benzodiazepines and heroin were the drugs most frequently used by those interviewed, with one-fifth of respondents injecting daily.
“People are dying unnecessarily from overdoses in Limerick and all over Ireland,” said Anne Cronin, head of Homeless Services with Novas.
“These deaths are preventable. This research helps us understand our residents’ experiences, and how our residents and staff can prevent overdose, and can best respond to it when it happens to stop it becoming fatal,” she added.
McGarry House is a low-threshold facility providing temporary supported accommodation to 30 male and female residents. There was an overdose every two weeks, on average, at the facility in the 18 month period prior to the research project.
