Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia

Safe spaces are increasingly utilized to reduce alcohol-related harm, violence, crime and improve public safety in nightlife settings. This study aimed to determine the impact and return on investment of the Take Kare Safe Space (TKSS) program—a harm reduction program implemented to address alcohol-...

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Autores principales:	Christopher M. Doran, Phillip Wadds, Anthony Shakeshaft, Dam Anh Tran
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	MDPI AG 2021
Materias:	harm reduction cost–benefit analysis return on investment crime violence alcohol Medicine R
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d00ddb24c4134033bc2dceabed3c90a0
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d00ddb24c4134033bc2dceabed3c90a02021-11-25T17:51:13ZImpact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia10.3390/ijerph1822121111660-46011661-7827https://doaj.org/article/d00ddb24c4134033bc2dceabed3c90a02021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/22/12111https://doaj.org/toc/1661-7827https://doaj.org/toc/1660-4601Safe spaces are increasingly utilized to reduce alcohol-related harm, violence, crime and improve public safety in nightlife settings. This study aimed to determine the impact and return on investment of the Take Kare Safe Space (TKSS) program—a harm reduction program implemented to address alcohol-related violence and disorder in three locations in Sydney’s night-time economy between 2014 and 2019. TKSS ambassadors provided support at static safe spaces and patrolled designated nightlife precincts to provide practical assistance to vulnerable and intoxicated people. Ambassadors recorded information relating to these interactions including ‘client’ age, gender, perceived level of intoxication, time and length of engagement with the program. Costs of program implementation and benefits of major incidents averted were obtained to allow calculation of return on investment. From December 2014 to April 2019, 66,455 people were supported by TKSS ambassadors. Most users were male (62%) and aged 18–25 years (66%). Of 3633 interventions by ambassadors, serious risk of harm was averted in 735 cases (20%). The program’s return on investment is estimated at 2.67, suggesting that a $1 investment results in $2.67 in benefits. Safe Spaces are extensively utilized, particularly by young males with high levels of intoxication, and represent a positive return on investment. Despite the growth of such services, there remains a notable absence of rigorous, independent evaluation regarding the outcomes and/or social benefit of safe space programs. From a policy perspective, there is a need for more high-quality economic evaluations to better inform decisions about competing uses of limited resources.Christopher M. DoranPhillip WaddsAnthony ShakeshaftDam Anh TranMDPI AGarticleharm reductioncost–benefit analysisreturn on investmentcrimeviolencealcoholMedicineRENInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol 18, Iss 12111, p 12111 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	harm reduction cost–benefit analysis return on investment crime violence alcohol Medicine R
spellingShingle	harm reduction cost–benefit analysis return on investment crime violence alcohol Medicine R Christopher M. Doran Phillip Wadds Anthony Shakeshaft Dam Anh Tran Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia
description	Safe spaces are increasingly utilized to reduce alcohol-related harm, violence, crime and improve public safety in nightlife settings. This study aimed to determine the impact and return on investment of the Take Kare Safe Space (TKSS) program—a harm reduction program implemented to address alcohol-related violence and disorder in three locations in Sydney’s night-time economy between 2014 and 2019. TKSS ambassadors provided support at static safe spaces and patrolled designated nightlife precincts to provide practical assistance to vulnerable and intoxicated people. Ambassadors recorded information relating to these interactions including ‘client’ age, gender, perceived level of intoxication, time and length of engagement with the program. Costs of program implementation and benefits of major incidents averted were obtained to allow calculation of return on investment. From December 2014 to April 2019, 66,455 people were supported by TKSS ambassadors. Most users were male (62%) and aged 18–25 years (66%). Of 3633 interventions by ambassadors, serious risk of harm was averted in 735 cases (20%). The program’s return on investment is estimated at 2.67, suggesting that a $1 investment results in $2.67 in benefits. Safe Spaces are extensively utilized, particularly by young males with high levels of intoxication, and represent a positive return on investment. Despite the growth of such services, there remains a notable absence of rigorous, independent evaluation regarding the outcomes and/or social benefit of safe space programs. From a policy perspective, there is a need for more high-quality economic evaluations to better inform decisions about competing uses of limited resources.
format	article
author	Christopher M. Doran Phillip Wadds Anthony Shakeshaft Dam Anh Tran
author_facet	Christopher M. Doran Phillip Wadds Anthony Shakeshaft Dam Anh Tran
author_sort	Christopher M. Doran
title	Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia
title_short	Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia
title_full	Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia
title_fullStr	Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia
title_full_unstemmed	Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia
title_sort	impact and return on investment of the take kare safe space program—a harm reduction strategy implemented in sydney, australia
publisher	MDPI AG
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/d00ddb24c4134033bc2dceabed3c90a0
work_keys_str_mv	AT christophermdoran impactandreturnoninvestmentofthetakekaresafespaceprogramaharmreductionstrategyimplementedinsydneyaustralia AT phillipwadds impactandreturnoninvestmentofthetakekaresafespaceprogramaharmreductionstrategyimplementedinsydneyaustralia AT anthonyshakeshaft impactandreturnoninvestmentofthetakekaresafespaceprogramaharmreductionstrategyimplementedinsydneyaustralia AT damanhtran impactandreturnoninvestmentofthetakekaresafespaceprogramaharmreductionstrategyimplementedinsydneyaustralia
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Impact and Return on Investment of the Take Kare Safe Space Program—A Harm Reduction Strategy Implemented in Sydney, Australia

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