Impact Exchange Case Study
Utilizing vending to support community-based harm reduction initiatives
Challenge
When it comes to providing life-saving resources, it is never too late to start thinking outside of the box and expanding your services to areas that you have not served before. That is exactly what Impact Exchange did when they began to consider expanding their services by providing harm reduction supplies through dispensing machines.
- Impact Exchange realized a lack of accessibility when it came to life-saving supplies. The overall goal of Impact Exchange was to start a program that would allow the community to have safe access to the harm reduction supplies they need.
- When searching for a solution, the Impact Exchange team looked for a way to monitor inventory and machine health directly from their phones.
- Impact Exchange had the vision to expand its services, without having to employ additional people.
“We wanted to make the dispensing of products easier and more accessible for people in our community,” said Chelsi Cheatom, the Program Manager at Impact Exchange. “This was a brand new program and a way to expand services throughout the community, without the cost of adding employees and building expenses.”
Through the help of Intelligent Dispensing Solutions, Impact Exchange was able to implement the Harm Reduction Center into their community.
The Process
The overall goal for Impact Exchange was to provide harm reduction supplies such as sterile syringes and injection-related products, to people across the state of Nevada to prevent HIV and Hepatitis C. What originally started as one storefront location has turned into seven dispensing machines locations.
When implementing the Harm Reduction Dispensing Machine, something that was important to Impact
Exchange was the ability to track products and the usage of the machine.
Cheatom said, “We wanted to have access to our inventory system and be able to look at the inventory and usage from our phones.”
iQ Technology, UCapIt’s back-end system, met this need and more. iQ Technology provides comprehensive, real-time reports making it easy for Impact Exchange to have control and visibility over their inventory and the usage of the Harm Reduction Dispensing Machines.
The Result
Through the Harm Reduction Dispensing Machines, Impact Exchange was able to reduce the stigma for people who need to utilize their services.
“A lot of times, people are facing a stigma when they walk into organizations looking to get help,” Cheatom said. “Having Harm Reduction Dispensing Machines and having it be anonymous helps a lot.”
Additionally, Impact Exchange has given people the opportunity to access NARCAN®, an overdose reversal medication.
Now, Impact Exchange works with community health organizations and local, state, and federal agencies who are looking to expand to dispensing services by hosting roundtables every other month, in conjunction with the Southern Nevada Health District. In these sessions, they discuss products in the machines, what to add to the machines, and more, creating awareness and reducing the stigma around those seeking help.
Would securely and conveniently dispensing harm reduction supplies help reduce health risks associated with drug use in your community? If so, contact UCapIt to schedule a live, personalized demo to see how our iQ Technology can help your organization.
About Impact Exchange
Impact Exchange is a storefront site committed to providing on-site consulting to the community for infectious disease prevention and harm reduction surrounding syringe use and disposal.
