| Course | MSW 535 Drugs and Addictive Behaviors |
|---|---|
| Week | 7 |
| Paper type | Harm reduction brief |
| Length | About 530 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Social Work (MSW) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MSW 535 Week 7
Harm Reduction Brief for a County Board of Health: Fewer Overdose Deaths and Infections as the Named Outcome, Each Service Described as Something Operated and Funded, Measured Against What, the Objection at Full Strength and What Is Lawful Here
Student Name
Chamberlain University
MSW 535: Drugs and Addictive Behaviors
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Harm Reduction Brief for a County Board of Health: Fewer Overdose Deaths and Infections as the Named Outcome, Each Service Described as Something Operated and Funded, Measured Against What, the Objection at Full Strength and What Is Lawful Here
The Outcome
The county's goal is fewer overdose deaths and fewer new HIV and hepatitis C infections among people who use drugs. Every service below is judged against that outcome.
Services, Not a Philosophy
Naloxone distribution: kits handed out at the program, in jail at release and through pharmacies. A Massachusetts study compared communities by how widely overdose education and naloxone kits had reached residents; where they had, opioid overdose deaths ran lower than where nothing was offered (Walley et al., 2013).
Syringe services: new syringes and disposal, plus testing and referral. A meta-analysis of 12 studies found exposure to syringe programs linked to lower HIV transmission in people injecting drugs, with the clearest effect in the better-designed studies (Aspinall et al., 2014).
Drug checking with fentanyl test strips: lets people learn whether fentanyl is present before use.
Low-barrier treatment: same-day buprenorphine starts, with no requirement to stop all other drug use first. Being in treatment with buprenorphine or methadone is associated with much lower mortality than being out of treatment (Sordo et al., 2017).
Supervised consumption: lawful in only a few places in the United States; not lawful in our state. It is listed here so the board knows it is outside current options.
Measured Against What
The program will report overdose deaths in the county by quarter, the number of naloxone kits distributed and reported reversals, the number of people starting buprenorphine at the program and how many are still in treatment at 90 days.
Each measure is something the program already collects or could collect with a simple log. The board will be able to see within two quarters whether naloxone reversals and buprenorphine starts are rising, and whether deaths are falling in the two target neighborhoods compared with the rest of the county.
The Objection at Full Strength
Put most forcefully, the case against is that harm reduction keeps people using: by making drug use safer, it removes a pressure to stop and sends a message that use is acceptable. Some residents near the program also worry about discarded syringes. These concerns deserve a direct answer. The evidence cited above shows lower deaths with naloxone and lower mortality in treatment; the program also collects used syringes and runs a weekly neighborhood cleanup.
Not an Argument Against Stopping
Harm reduction includes treatment. Every contact is an offer of treatment, and a person who is alive can still choose recovery.
What Is Available Here
Naloxone, syringe services and test strips are lawful in our state. The board's decision is whether to fund an outreach worker to bring them to the two neighborhoods with the most overdose calls.
References
Aspinall, E. J., Nambiar, D., Goldberg, D. J., Hickman, M., Weir, A., Van Velzen, E., Palmateer, N., Doyle, J. S., Hellard, M. E., & Hutchinson, S. J. (2014). Are needle and syringe programmes associated with a reduction in HIV transmission among people who inject drugs: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Epidemiology, 43(1), 235-248. https://doi.org/10.1093/ije/dyt243
Sordo, L., Barrio, G., Bravo, M. J., Indave, B. I., Degenhardt, L., Wiessing, L., Ferri, M., & Pastor-Barriuso, R. (2017). Mortality risk during and after opioid substitution treatment: Systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies. BMJ, 357, Article j1550. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.j1550
Walley, A. Y., Xuan, Z., Hackman, H. H., Quinn, E., Doe-Simkins, M., Sorensen-Alawad, A., Ruiz, S., & Ozonoff, A. (2013). Opioid overdose rates and implementation of overdose education and nasal naloxone distribution in Massachusetts: Interrupted time series analysis. BMJ, 346, Article f174. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.f174
What the MSW 535 Week 7 assignment asks for
The harm reduction brief is about services, not a position. Name the outcome first, such as fewer overdose deaths or infections. Then describe each service as something a named organization operates and funds: syringe access, naloxone distribution, drug checking, low-barrier treatment and, where lawful, supervised consumption. Give evidence for each, at the depth it deserves. Say what the services will be measured against. State the strongest objection at full strength and answer it with evidence and practical steps. Say what is lawful and available locally. Make clear that harm reduction is not an argument against stopping use. Close with a specific decision for the reader.
How this MSW 535 Week 7 example is built
The outcome section names deaths and new HIV and hepatitis C infections. The services section describes naloxone in three distribution points, citing Walley et al. (2013), syringe services with testing, citing Aspinall et al. (2014) on reduced HIV transmission, test strips, same-day buprenorphine, citing Sordo et al. (2017), and supervised consumption as unlawful in the state. A measures section lists quarterly deaths, kits and reversals, buprenorphine starts and 90-day retention. The objection section states that harm reduction may keep people using and answers it with evidence and a syringe cleanup. A section makes treatment part of every contact, and the close asks the board to fund one outreach worker.
Where the points sit in the MSW 535 Week 7 rubric
The brief loses most when it argues for harm reduction as a value without naming services, operators or evidence. Faculty credit an outcome stated first, services described concretely, evidence matched to each service and measures the board could track. The strongest objection must be stated fairly and answered. Accuracy about what is lawful locally is essential. Making clear that treatment is part of harm reduction answers a common misunderstanding. Evidence should be cited in APA and described at its real strength. A specific decision for the reader makes the brief usable. Writers who disagree with the approach can still write it well. Measures should be ones the program can actually collect each quarter.
Common MSW 535 Week 7 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Briefs most often lose points by reading as an editorial. Another common error is overstating evidence, such as claiming certainty where reviews find tentative support. Some briefs omit the objection, which leaves board members to raise it themselves. Others recommend services that are not legal in the jurisdiction. If your assignment targets one agency, such as a hospital or a jail, keep the outcome and the services and change the decision you ask for. What should remain on the board's table afterward is one choice it can vote on. Keep the objection section as long as the evidence section, so the board sees it taken seriously. Name the agency that would run each service.
Get a MSW-535 Week 7 example written to your instructions
Send the Week 7 instructions with any required element list and a note on whether a recommendation is wanted, and a custom example is written to them and returned inside 24 to 48 hours, the first one free. If your section fixed a particular service or a particular state to write about, say which, because availability and the evidence base both change with that choice.
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MSW 535 Week 7 questions, answered
Can I write this brief if I disagree with the approach?
Yes, and those briefs are often the sharper ones, because the objection section stops being a formality. The assignment is asking for the evidence and a fair account of the disagreement, not for agreement. State the outcomes the studies moved, state honestly what they did not move, and let your recommendation follow from that rather than from the position you started with.
What counts as evidence here?
Peer-reviewed evaluations of the specific services, plus the public health surveillance that measured the outcomes those services target. Advocacy material from either direction is usable as a description of a position and not as a finding, and labeling it as such in the brief is what markers want to see. Where a service has been studied lightly, saying so scores better than borrowing another service's results.
My assignment wants a recommendation for one agency. Does that change the structure?
It adds a section rather than replacing one. The evidence still has to be laid out and the objection still has to be met, but the closing turns toward what this agency could operate given its funding, its state and the people it already sees. That local turn is usually where the marks concentrate, since that turn is the one nothing in a published review will hand you.
Where can I find a free MSW 535 Week 7 sample paper?
The complete MSW 535 Week 7 harm reduction brief for a county board of health is laid out below, with notes beside the outcome and the objection.
What decision does the MSW 535 Week 7 sample ask of the board?
Whether to fund an outreach worker to bring naloxone, syringe services and test strips to the two neighborhoods with the most overdose calls.