The Discursive Construction of Substance Use and Harm Reduction in Canadian Health Policy
Abstract
Harm reduction as a philosophy has been widely recognized by healthcare professionals in Canada, yet the topic remains controversial in both political and public discourses. Understanding these discourses will allow health care providers to better respond to political and public concerns, as well as ensuring that services are aligned well with public health needs. This study explored the discursive use of the term “harm reduction” in Canadian health care and nursing policy documents’ contexts by using a Foucauldian framework and Bacchi’s ‘what’s the problem represented to be?’ approach. I propose three discursive themes: self-responsible citizen, evidenced-based practice, and what nurses must do. The findings indicate possibilities for designing favorable and humanistic policies and strategies for people who use substances. This study reveals the problem of how language is an enactment of power over people who use substances and recommends more humanistic policies and empowering language.