Intersubjective realities of harm reduction in Costa Rica: Polyphonic voices of homelessness and drug consumption

Abstract

Objective: To understand the experiences of Harm Reduction among
the voices of homeless people and drug users in Costa Rica.
Materials and Methods: A qualitative research with a
phenomenological approach that worked with 10 homeless people in
Costa Rica during 2019-2020.
Results: The materialization of the right to health and the recognition
of the citizenship/humanism of homeless people-drug user were always
present in the lived experiences of the participants. In addition, it was
explicit that the axes of Humanism, Person-centered Care and the
recognition of the Drug Phenomenon as a dimension belonging to the
field of Public Health were neuralgic points of being within the Harm
Reduction in Costa Rica.
Conclusion: One of the major contributions of this study was the
understanding of the progress of Harm Reduction in a non-place like
the street. The social phenomenological understanding also showed
us that the sense of "being" in the world is not something that can be
determined by primitive and punitive structures. Therefore, any health
care attempt that delegitimizes the human being at any time or (no)
place will be doomed to failure.
Keywords: Harm reduction; Homeless; Drugs; Human rights; Public
health