SIG Visit to Taiwan Opens Door for Future of Collaboration

From November 7 to November 11, 2023, SIG co-director Victoria Frye, SIG co-director Elwin Wu, and SIG associate director Timothy Hunt visited Taipei, Taiwan, to share information and resources about harm reduction and build connections with faculty at National Taiwan University (NTU). Over the course of their trip, they learned about where drug treatment and harm reduction currently stand in Taiwan, shared their experiences in the US with the HEALing Communities Study and other SIG research initiatives, and examined opportunities for future collaboration.

During the trip, Drs. Frye, Wu, and Hunt were welcomed by HuiChing Wu, Professor of Social Work and Columbia School of Social work alumna, who served as the main collaborator and key contact for SIG, and arranged for the visit. Dr. Yi-Ching Charlotte Chen, LCSW at Fu Jen Catholic University, and Dr. Ding-Lieh Daniel Liao, Vice Superintendent at Bali Psychiatric Center assisted in coordinating the visit. 

Drs. Frye, Wu, and Hunt joined Dr. HuiChing Wu for lunch with several NTU faculty members, as well as staff from the Taiwanese Resilience Center. The Taiwanese Resilience Center is located at NTU, and will hopefully become a long-time collaborator and research partner for SIG in the areas of substance use and harm reduction. That same day, they also presented research findings and held a workshop for students at NTU.

“These activities build up a bridge between the academic and practitioners to exchange their research and practice experience. We will be inspired to develop an effectively healing community and innovative prevention strategies from the SIG’s experience,” said Dr. HuiChing Wu.

Building connections with these researchers and with local organizations was a key purpose of the trip, and will enable further sharing of information and best practices around harm reduction going forward. There was a great deal of interest from NTU faculty, government officials, and key mental health and substance use treatment providers in the HEALing Communities Study, especially in taking an integrated approach to severe mental illness and substance use, and working with people engaged in the criminal-legal system.

The following day, SIG staff visited a hospital-based drug treatment program in central Taipei, and a supportive housing and self-funding enterprise community providing training and work opportunities for participants. Hospital-based care is central to the Taiwanese approach to substance use and mental health disorders, and that approach is currently evolving as community-based partnerships are expanding community integration. “We’re excited to support these partnerships and are inspired by the openness and commitment of community members in Taiwan as they address the needs of this vulnerable population,” said Timothy Hunt.

On the final two days of the trip, Drs. Frye, Wu, and Hunt attended and presented at the 2023 International Conference on the Construction of Healing Community and the Prevention of Substance Use. Their presentations covered the HEALing Communities Study, using the criminal-legal system as an opportunity for advances and innovation, and substance-use intervention models specifically for women and for LGBTQ+ people.

Over the coming months, Drs. Frye, Wu, and Hunt hope to build on the relationships developed during this visit to support the expansion of harm reduction in Taiwan, as well as eventually establishing a new center to house that work.