ViewpointRapid assessment, injecting drug use, and public health
Section snippets
Origins of rapid assessment
Contemporary notions of rapid assessment represent a convergence and synthesis of different research and intervention traditions.1 Among the most important of these are applied research, medical and emergency response, and community development. As applied research, the methodological origins of rapid assessment can be traced to social interactionism in sociology which emerged in the 1920s, led by the Chicago School.14 These developments emphasised the socially situated nature of individual
Method of rapid assessment
The idea of rapid assessment is simple. It involves the speeding up of social-science research,1 and the explicit linking of assessment to action, thereby giving priority to pragmatic rather than to scientific outcomes. Yet, given the diversity of (often competing) methodological and disciplinary perspectives from which the idea has evolved, attempts have been made to standardise better the method of rapid assessment. This has given rise to several guides and manuals for use in a range of
An example
We have argued that rapid assessment methods are well suited to the undertaking of cost-effective and pragmatic research in a range of social, cultural, and economic environments, particularly when inadequate data exist. The suitability of rapid assessment methods has been increasingly acknowledged in the fields of HIV-1 prevention and IDU.8, 9, 10, 18 Research into drug injecting is known for its practical and methodological difficulties, particularly regarding access to adequate data.19 In
Public-health potential
The speed with which public-health responses are developed can be a critical determinant of risk reduction and disease prevention, yet rapid assessment methods remain peripheral to mainstream public health. Given its emphasis on rapidity, pragmatism, and cost-effectiveness, there is a tendency to regard rapid assessment as a second-rate public-health method. This tendency is compounded by the fact that the findings and impact of rapid assessments are rarely published in scientific journals.
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Cited by (85)
A rapid assessment of take-home naloxone provision during COVID-19 in Europe
2022, International Journal of Drug PolicyFentanyl self-testing outside supervised injection settings to prevent opioid overdose: Do we know enough to promote it?
2018, International Journal of Drug PolicyHeroin uncertainties: Exploring users’ perceptions of fentanyl-adulterated and -substituted ‘heroin’
2017, International Journal of Drug PolicyThe risk environment of anabolic–androgenic steroid users in the UK: Examining motivations, practices and accounts of use
2017, International Journal of Drug PolicyCitation Excerpt :For the wider study, the research approach adopted was that of rapid appraisal (RA). RA typically involves mixed-method research with the aim of gathering data about a particular issue in a timely manner in order to provide evidence-based recommendations for policy and practice (Coomber, 2015; Quine & Taylor, 1998; Rhodes, Stimson, Fitch, Ball, & Renton, 1999; Stimson, Fitch, & Rhodes, 1998). In this case, local drug and alcohol service commissioners keen to better service provision wanted to gain insights into the local PIED market as well as find out about the composition of locally sourced PIEDs and user practices and motivations.
The application of the rapid assessment and response methodology for cannabis prevention research among youth in the Netherlands
2015, International Journal of Drug PolicyCitation Excerpt :In this respect, prevention worker professionalism could be described as knowledge of evidence-based interventions and the possibility to adapt these quickly to the context of vulnerable groups. This prevention worker's knowledge of evidence based interventions and professional skills, combined with a number of inductive methodologies (Fitch et al., 2004; Rhodes et al., 1999; Stimson et al., 1998, 1999; Stimson, Donoghoe, Fitch, Rhodes, 2001) generate a large amount of data. This proportionate effort makes the RAR method cost-effective.
The supply of steroids and other performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) in one English city: Fakes, counterfeits, supplier trust, common beliefs and access
2014, Performance Enhancement and HealthCitation Excerpt :In 1998, the World Health Organization published its guidelines on RA in the field of injecting drug use, where RA was both commended and recommended on the grounds that it was rapid, investigative, draws upon extant data and can be applied to a multiplicity of concerns in both developed and developing countries (Stimson, Fitch, & Rhodes, 1998). RA has been commended for its multi-method approach of data collection, in its use of and triangulation (Quine & Taylor, 1998) of a range of data sources (Rhodes, Stimson, Fitch, Ball, & Renton, 1999). A variety of methods were employed in order to provide a profile of the Plymouth PIED market.