Alex Elswick

Speakers - Day 1

Dr. Alex Elswick is a tireless advocate for people with substance use disorders. He currently serves the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist for Substance Use Prevention and Recovery. Alex is a trained researcher, recovery coach, and mental health therapist, as well as the co-founder of Voices of Hope, a peer-driven recovery community organization. But most importantly, Alex is himself a person in long term recovery from the chronic disease of addiction.

Plenary Session Day 1 Description:

Date and Time: Wednesday, September 18th -

Harm Reduction is Recovery: More than 100,000 Americans die of preventable drug overdose each year. And yet, the US has largely been anathema to Harm Reduction policies and practices. For instance, most communities have been slow to adopt evidence-based approaches to reducing overdose mortality (i.e. Medications for Opioid Use Disorder, Naloxone, Overdose Prevention Sites, etc.). Research shows that much of this reluctance is the result of a negative bias that many Americans hold toward Harm Reduction. The goals of this session are:

to define Harm Reduction as a practice and as a philosophy;
to underscore the evidence for the effectiveness of harm reduction approaches;
to describe Harm Reduction as a pathway of recovery from substance use disorder.