The Injection-Related InfectionS (IRIS) Program

The IRIS Program: A Novel Pathway to Optimize Treatment of Injection-related Infections for People Who Inject Drugs in Hamilton, Ontario

People who inject drugs are at risk of injection-related infections, like abscesses or infective endocarditis. The Injection-Related InfectionS (IRIS) program hopes to improve treatment for participants by providing a low-barrier, one-stop shop model for people who inject drugs who experience injection-related infections to access more holistic and compassionate care. IRIS is a non-randomized clinical trial, meaning that it offers a specific program to eligible patients. This program offers care for substance use and infectious disease with additional peer support and systems navigation, if interested. The investigators anticipate enrolling 80 participants in the intervention and will follow participants throughout the infection treatment period (estimated 6-12 weeks). The investigators will collect information at the time of enrolment, at the 6-month mark, and monthly via electronic medical chart review. The investigators will use an interrupted time series analysis to evaluate the impact of the intervention on rates of treatment completion, emergency department visits, hospitalizations, and death, before versus after the intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 16 or older
• Able to provide informed consent
• Presenting with a confirmed or suspected injection-related infection (including skin and soft tissue infections, osteomyelitis, infective endocarditis, Hepatitis C, HIV, etc)
• History of injection drug use within 3 months of recruitment
• Lives in Hamilton, Ontario

Exclusion Criteria:

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