Thomas Kerr
Biographic Data
| ID | 123103 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Thomas Kerr |
| GIVEN NAMES | Thomas |
| FAMILY NAME | Kerr |
| SIGNATURE | KERR T |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of British Columbia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0870-7153 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 279 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 686 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 279 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1960 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 13 |
Payday Loan Use Among People With Lived and Living Experience of Substance Use
Gender differences in the association between housing status and violence among people who report exposure to benzodiazepines
BACKGROUND: Benzodiazepine exposure through the contaminated unregulated drug supply is associated with heightened risk of violent victimization, particularly for women. It is critical to identify the structural factors that intersect with drug toxicity and condition vulnerability to violence. As such, we conducted a gender-based analysis of the impacts of stable housing on violence among a sample of people exposed to benzodiazepines. METHODS: Us…
Haunted houses: Using photovoice to understand emotional geographies in single room occupancy housing
Difficulty accessing substance use treatment among Indigenous people in a Canadian inner city setting
Objectives: Indigenous people in Canada continue to suffer from higher rates of opioid overdose death than non-Indigenous groups. Although substance use treatment remains a key strategy in the context of the overdose crisis, the barriers to timely substance use treatment access among Indigenous people have not been well-characterized. This study aims to identify factors affecting treatment access for Indigenous residents in Vancouver, BC. Methods…
The Gender Segregation of Precarious Work Contexts Among People Who Use Drugs
Confiscations, public health obstructions, and perpetual displacement: Experiences and perspectives on urban law enforcement practices during a period of “recriminalization” among people who use crimi…
Our findings illustrate how harmful law enforcement practices that target people who use criminalized drugs, particularly those relying on public spaces for survival, persisted during the evolving drug policy periods. Together, these law enforcement practices along with the lack of understanding regarding the shifting Decriminalization Pilot, may have undermined the potential success of a policy dedicated to decriminalizing drug possession in BC
Initiation, cessation and resumption of attendance at the Melbourne supervised injecting room among a cohort of people who inject drugs
We found high MSIR service uptake, relative to cessation. Attendance was higher among men, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, and those recently homeless, with frequent attenders injecting more often and those on OAT less likely to attend frequently
Cannabis use and illicit opioid cessation among people who use drugs living with chronic pain
Longitudinal polysubstance use patterns and non-fatal overdose: A repeated measures latent class analysis
Sharing drug checking results in a Canadian setting: A multi-site analysis
This study revealed that over half the study sample shared their drug checking results with others, with results sharing being positively associated with recent drug dealing, frequent DCS utilisation, employment and ethnicity. Drug checking results were most often shared with friends, family and drug dealers. These findings extend the evidence base of DCS as a harm reduction tool by demonstrating how engagement with DCS facilitates information di…
A qualitative study exploring motives for the transition from injecting to smoking drugs in Vancouver, British Columbia
Patterns of socioeconomic marginalization and non-fatal overdose among people who use drugs: A gender-stratified repeated measures latent class analysis
Rendre l’équivalence dans la langue cible: Traduction communicative de Portraits d’un pays vers l’anglais
The Association for Canadian Jewish Studies encourages research on the Canadian Jewish experience through the disciplines of political science, sociology, economics, geography, history, demography, education, religion, linguistics, literature, architecture, performing and fine arts, among others
A qualitative evaluation of a fentanyl patch safer supply program in Vancouver, Canada
Our findings demonstrate the value of including fentanyl patch safer supply in the substance use continuum of care and offer insights for innovations in delivery of this intervention
Repurposing prescribed hydromorphone: Alternative uses of safer supply and tablet-injectable opioid agonist treatment to meet unaddressed health needs
Our findings demonstrate how people who use drugs are maximizing the benefits of tablet hydromorphone distribution to address unmet needs. Hydromorphone distribution programs represent a public health and harm reduction intervention that is usefully addressing experiences related to structural vulnerabilities (such as inadequate pain management), which are often overlooked amongst stigmatized groups
Preferred pharmaceutical-grade opioids to reduce the use of unregulated opioids: A cross-sectional analysis among people who use unregulated opioids in Vancouver, Canada
They talk about it like it's an overdose crisis when in fact it's basically genocide”: The experiences of Indigenous peoples who use illicit drugs in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside neighbourhood
Indigenous Peoples who use illicit drugs (IPWUID) are disproportionately represented among toxic drug poisoning deaths in Canada. These drug-related harms are framed by the historical and ongoing trauma related to settler colonialism and are acutely visible in Vancouver, Canada's Downtown Eastside - a low-income neighbourhood that is an epicenter of the drug poisoning crisis and characterized by entrenched poverty, substance use, violence, and ho…
The impact of an unsanctioned compassion club on non-fatal overdose
In this study, enrolment in an unsanctioned compassion club was found to be associated with reductions in any type of non-fatal overdose and non-fatal overdose involving naloxone administration. These findings highlight the need for ongoing research on safer supply interventions, as well as the potential of non-medicalized compassion clubs to complement existing safer supply programming and reduce overdose events
Impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on the availability and retail price of unregulated drugs in Vancouver, Canada: An interrupted time-series analysis, 2018-2022
Using drugs alone in single room occupancy housing: Understanding environmental drivers of overdose risk
Patterns of Socioeconomic Marginalization among People Who Use Drugs: A Gender-Stratified Repeated Measures Latent Class Analysis
Characterizing Use of Supervised Consumption Services among Street-involved Youth and Young Adults in the Context of an Overdose Crisis
The machine doesn't judge: Counternarratives on surveillance among people accessing a safer opioid supply via biometric machines
People who use illegal drugs experience routine surveillance, including in healthcare and harm reduction settings. The MySafe Project - a safer supply pilot project that dispenses prescription opioids via a biometric vending machine - exists in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The machine scans a participant's palmprint and has a built-in camera that records every machine interaction. The aim of this paper is to understand participants'…
Using Ethno-Epidemiology in a Prospective Observational Study to Increase the Rigour of Nested Qualitative Research
Ethnographic-epidemiological ('ethno-epi') research methodologies are increasingly being used to examine health-related issues, including the experiences of people who use drugs. However, the complementary application of random sampling from a well characterised cohort and qualitative data collection methods in a single study has not been described. We address this gap by sharing insights from the implementation of a novel random stratified sampl…
Longitudinal latent polysubstance use patterns among a cohort of people who use opioids in Vancouver, Canada
Social and structural violence and power relations in mitigating HIV risk of drug-using women in survival sex work
They won't change it back in their heads that we're trash: The Intersection of Sex Work-Related Stigma and Evolving Policing Strategies
In Vancouver, Canada, there has been a continuous shift in the policing of sex work away from arresting sex workers, which led to the implementation of a policing strategy that explicitly prioritised the safety of sex workers and continued to target sex workers' clients. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 cisgender and five transgender women street-based sex workers about their working conditions. Data were analysed thematically and …
Community-designed, built and managed toilet blocks in Indian cities
This paper describes the ten-year programme of communitydesigned, built and managed toilet blocks undertaken by urban poor federations and women’s cooperatives, with support from the Indian NGO SPARC. This programme has reached hundreds of thousands of poor urban dwellers with much improved sanitation and facilities for washing; it has also demonstrated how such provision is affordable and manageable for all Indian cities. But this programme has …
They treated me like crap and I know it was because I was Native: The healthcare experiences of Aboriginal peoples living in Vancouver's inner city
Community-based participatory research in a heavily researched inner city neighbourhood: Perspectives of people who use drugs on their experiences as peer researchers
Structural and Environmental Barriers to Condom Use Negotiation With Clients Among Female Sex Workers: Implications for HIV-Prevention Strategies and Policy
Objectives. We investigated the relationship between environmental–structural factors and condom-use negotiation with clients among female sex workers. Methods. We used baseline data from a 2006 Vancouver, British Columbia, community-based cohort of female sex workers, to map the clustering of “hot spots” for being pressured into unprotected sexual intercourse by a client and assess sexual HIV risk. We used multivariate logistic modeling to estim…
Hospitals as a 'risk environment: An ethno-epidemiological study of voluntary and involuntary discharge from hospital against medical advice among people who inject drugs
Homelessness and unstable housing associated with an increased risk of HIV and STI transmission among street-involved youth
Associations between childhood maltreatment and sex work in a cohort of drug-using youth
Peer worker involvement in low-threshold supervised consumption facilities in the context of an overdose epidemic in Vancouver, Canada
The impact of social, structural and physical environmental factors on transitions into employment among people who inject drugs
Safety and danger in downtown Vancouver: Understandings of place among young people entrenched in an urban drug scene
Coming 'down here: Young people's reflections on becoming entrenched in a local drug scene
Neighborhood and HIV infection among IDU: Place of residence independently predicts HIV infection among a cohort of injection drug users
Area restrictions, risk, harm, and health care access among people who use drugs in Vancouver, Canada: A spatially oriented qualitative study
Negotiating structural vulnerability following regulatory changes to a provincial methadone program in vancouver, canada: A qualitative study
Lessons from Codi on co-production
Somsook Boonyabancha, former director of CODI (the Community Organizations Development Institute in Thailand) and now an advisor to the CODI board and chairperson of the Baan Mankong Program Committee, reflects on the evolution of CODI, the management of its fund, and the community-driven activities it has supported since 1992. The paper explains how substantial and large-scale changes can be brought about in the lives of the poor by supporting a…
Negotiating Violence in the Context of Transphobia and Criminalization: The Experiences of Trans Sex Workers in Vancouver, Canada
A growing body of international evidence suggests that sex workers face a disproportionate burden of violence, with significant variations across social, cultural, and economic contexts. Research on trans sex workers has documented high incidents of violence; however, investigations into the relationships between violence and social-structural contexts are limited. Therefore, the objective of this study was to qualitatively examine how social-str…
Prevalence and Correlates of Lifetime Suicide Attempts Among Transgender Persons in Argentina
This study examined the lifetime prevalence and correlates of attempted suicide among transgender persons in Argentina. Data were derived from a nation-wide, cross-sectional survey conducted in 2013. We assessed individual, social, and structural correlates of reporting a history of attempting suicide using logistic regression. Among 482 participants, the median age was 30, 91% identified as transwomen, and 32% resided in the Buenos Aires metropo…
Seeking refuge from violence in street-based drug scenes: Women's experiences in North America's first supervised injection facility
It’s Helped Me a Lot, Just Like to Stay Alive”: A Qualitative Analysis of Outcomes of a Novel Hydromorphone Tablet Distribution Program in Vancouver, Canada
Socioeconomic marginalisation in the structural production of vulnerability to violence among people who use illicit drugs
OBJECTIVE: Many people who use illicit drugs (PWUD) face challenges to their financial stability. Resulting activities that PWUD undertake to generate income may increase their vulnerability to violence. We therefore examined the relationship between income generation and exposure to violence across a wide range of income generating activities among HIV-positive and HIV-negative PWUD living in Vancouver, Canada. METHODS: Data were derived from co…
The multiple truths about crystal meth among young people entrenched in an urban drug scene: A longitudinal ethnographic investigation
And we just have to keep going: Task shifting and the production of burnout among overdose response workers with lived experience
Transitions into and out of homelessness among street-involved youth in a Canadian setting
A comparison of chemical properties of seeds of Gossypium species
Pre-conquest plant fibers from the tehuacan valley, mexico
Community-designed, built and managed toilet blocks in Indian cities
Community-designed, built and managed toilet blocks in Indian cities
This paper describes the ten-year programme of communitydesigned, built and managed toilet blocks undertaken by urban poor federations and women’s cooperatives, with support from the Indian NGO SPARC. This programme has reached hundreds of thousands of poor urban dwellers with much improved sanitation and facilities for washing; it has also demonstrated how such provision is affordable and manageable for all Indian cities. But this programme has …
Requiring Help Injecting as a Risk Factor for HIV Infection in the Vancouver Epidemic: Implications for HIV Prevention
Harm reduction in prisons: A ‘rights based analysis’
Throughout most of the world, the primary response to problems associated with illicit injection drug use has been to intensify law enforcement efforts. This strategy has contributed to an unprecedented growth in prison populations and growing concerns regarding drug-related harm within prisons. Despite the presence of international laws and guidelines that call for the protection of the health of prisoners, prison authorities have generally been…
Safer injection facility use and syringe sharing in injection drug users
Determinants of Haart discontinuation among injection drug users
The objective of this study was to identify psychosocial determinants of, and self-reported reasons for, HAART discontinuation among HIV-positive injection drug users (IDUs). We examined correlates between sociodemographic characteristics, drug use and risk behaviors, outcome expectations, adherence self-efficacy, social support and HAART discontinuation among 160 HIV-positive participants in the Vancouver Injection Drug Users' Study (VIDUS). Log…
Factors associated with sex-trade involvement among female injection drug users in a Canadian setting
Background: We undertook this study to evaluate the factors associated with sex-trade involvement among a cohort of female injection drug users (IDUs).Methods: We performed a prospective analysis of factors associated with sex-trade involvement among female participants enrolled in a prospective cohort study of Vancouver injection drug users. We examined HIV-status during follow-up and measured time updated social, sex- and drug-related variables…
The public health and social impacts of drug market enforcement: A review of the evidence
Measuring the public health impact of police activities on illicit drug users
Harm reduction by a ?user-run? organization: A case study of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (Vandu)
Safer injecting education for HIV prevention within a medically supervised safer injecting facility
A Description of a Peer-Run Supervised Injection Site for Injection Drug Users
Harm Reduction, HIV/Aids, and the Human Rights Challenge to Global Drug Control Policy
The global HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the role of unsafe drug injection as one of its principal drivers, have added to the list of harms associated with unsafe drug use. HIV/AIDS has highlighted ways in which prohibitionist drug policy causes or contributes to such harms and focused attention on the international regime of illicit drug control. At the same time, HIV/AIDS has catalyzed the "health and human rights movement" to articulate legal and pol…
Getting Global Funds to Those Most in Need: The Thai Drug Users' Network
The Thai Drug Users' Network (TDN) formed in 2002 in response to the deplorable health and human rights conditions facing illicit drug users in Thailand. In 2003, TDN submitted a proposal for funding to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria (GFATM). The proposal appeared destined to fail as it did not have the support of the Thai government and because the interventions proposed were highly incongruent with national policies. I…
Rationale to Evaluate Medically Supervised Safer Smoking Facilities for Non-injection Illicit Drug Users
Public injecting and the need for ‘safer environment interventions’ in the reduction of drug‐related harm
Background One key structural dimension in the distribution of drug‐related harm associated with injecting drug use is the injecting environment. Epidemiological evidence associates elevated blood‐borne viral risk with injecting in ‘public’ and ‘semipublic’ environments. Yet the quality of evidence on public injecting and related viral risk is variable, and is lacking in many countries such as the United Kingdom. Aim This commentary considers the…
The case for expanding access to highly active antiretroviral therapy to curb the growth of the HIV epidemic
Differences in access to care among injection drug users infected either with HIV and hepatitis C or hepatitis C alone
Access to HCV (Hepatitis C virus) care for HIV/HCV-co-infected patients is an urgent public health concern. The objective of the present study was to describe the self-reported health status of HIV/HCV-co-infected and HCV-mono-infected injection drug users and to describe their access to HCV-related care. Beginning in May 1996, persons who had injected illicit drugs in the previous month were recruited into the Vancouver Injection Drug User Study…
Impacts of intensified police activity on injection drug users: Evidence from an ethnographic investigation
Drug-related overdoses within a medically supervised safer injection facility
Harm reduction by a “user-run” organization: A case study of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (Vandu)
What do you do when you hit rock bottom? Responding to drugs in the city of Vancouver
Neighborhood and HIV infection among IDU: Place of residence independently predicts HIV infection among a cohort of injection drug users
Medicine (239 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (221 works) · Psychiatry (147 works) · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (125 works) · Environmental health (124 works) · Public health (108 works) · Internal Medicine (95 works) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (87 works) · Sociology (86 works) · Demography (85 works)