Characteristic of program ZONE
The ZONE programme offers services of a low threshold contact centre for injecting drug users, sex workers, family and relatives of target groups and people living in Sereď.
The programme is based on the Harm Reduction approach (risk/harm reduction), public health protection and low-threshold philosophy and is active mainly in the area of secondary prevention.
Its employees assist clients who are trying to stabilize and/or improve their situation, minimize damages resulting from risk behaviour, reduce the risk of becoming infected with blood-borne (hepatitis B and C, HIV/AIDS, etc.) and sexually transmitted diseases (gonorrhea, syphilis, HIV/AIDS, etc.), motivate them to change and empower them in their decisions. Basic services are provided to clients of the programme on an anonymous basis and free of charge.
Goals and tasks
- To increase motivation to change and contribute to maintaining and/or improving the living situation of clients especially by means of social counseling.
- To help cope with difficult situations by means of counseling.
- To improve quality of life through social assistance, to reduce and eliminate prejudice and myths on the part of the public and other institutions.
- To reduce the risk of becoming accidentally infected with blood-borne and sexually transmitted diseases by means of collection and safe disposal of used injecting needles and to contribute to protection of public health.
- To reduce the number of repeatedly used and shared injecting needles by distributing sterile injecting needles and other medical equipment and thus to reduce the risk of transmission of blood-borne diseases and to contribute to protection of public health.
- To minimize the number of unprotected sexual intercourses and thus to reduce the risk of transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.
Provided services
- social, medical and legal counseling for injecting drug users, sex workers and family members and relatives of drug injecting users and sex workers
- contact work
- exchange and distribution of medical equipment required for safer drug application and elimination of risk behaviour
- contact with other helping professionals (lawyers, nurses, psychiatrists, etc.)
- social assistance in accessing social and other services needed for stabilizing and/or improving the current situation of a client (medical and resocialization facilities, offices of labour, social affairs and family, courts, employment agencies, etc.)
- crisis intervention
- situational intervention
- assistance in administration of documents, applications and legal instruments
- storage of important documents or legal instruments
- using a telephone or a computer with an Internet connection when dealing with the current social or health situation
- delivery of client’s mail and using the postal address of the contact centre
- distribution of informational and educational materials
- basic non-invasive medical treatment
- food service (instant soup, wafer, tea, water)
Target groups
- injecting drug users
- sex workers
- family members and relatives of injecting drug users and sex workers
- people living in Sereď and other towns
- expert and lay public
