OD-PREP: OverDose Prevention and Response
Essential Practices Knowledge Exchange Series
About the Project
The Community Action Initiative (CAI), the Public Health Association of BC (PHABC) and the Canadian Mental Health Association – BC Division (CMHA BC), are working in partnership with a peer-led Advisory Committee to increase the documentation of community-based models of overdose prevention and response. The project aims to strengthen network connections by providing an opportunity for peer-led groups and community-based organizations to share their work while learning about other local responses happening across the province to combat the ongoing poisoning epidemic.
Essential Practices in Community-Based Overdose will host webinars and upload YouTube videos to share information related to the overdose prevention and response in British Columbia, regardless of funding source. The webinars will be recorded live, downloaded on to a YouTube channel, and made available for anyone to watch via YouTube and a dedicated webpage. The videos will also be further edited into short videos and translated into infographics to be shared across various social media platforms; increasing public knowledge and understanding of the current epidemic.
We are looking for peer-led groups and community-based organizations from across the province to self-identify or nominate others whose approaches to overdose prevention and response are positively impacting the communities the work in. Submissions can be completed online, by telephone, or a video submission.
Submission deadline is November 20, 2020
The goals of this work are to:
1. Identify essential practices in community-based organizations and peer-led groups to address overdose prevention and response.
2. Facilitate knowledge exchange led by peers and community-based organizations.
3. Collect policy-relevant findings to advance systems-level change.
What are “Essential Practices”?
For the purposes of this project, “essential practices” are defined as working with peers and peer networks, taking a grassroots approach to overdose prevention and response, connecting organizations and initiatives to support knowledge exchange, and sharing basic overdose prevention and response guidelines that communities can customize to their area/region.
What would be involved in participating in this project?
Participation will include an introductory telephone interview with the project team to share details about your group/organization and the essential practice that you want to share with others, co-development of the webinar format (e.g., panel, presentation, coffee conversation, or other) and participation on the webinar, which will be recorded and hosted on a YouTube channel. In addition, an infographic will be created based on the key message(s) and you will be given the opportunity to provide feedback before publication. Honorarium will be provided for peers who participate on unpaid time at every step of the project.
Themes
The following themes provide sample topics for webinars and YouTube videos:
▪ Starting an Overdose Prevention Site (OPS)
▪ Defining Harm Reduction
▪ Naloxone Kits – about the kit, how it works, where you can get one, where to take training
▪ How to normalize overdose prevention
▪ Opportunities to create new policies for service provision
▪ “Palatable peer” and shifting mentality for bringing people who are street entrenched to the table as peers/PWLLE
▪ Anti-stigma, creating equity and meaningful collaboration
▪ How to recover from an overdose, including brain injury
▪ Community Action Teams – how do we support and legitimize the work that peers do?
▪ Policy-provision and the barriers that exist, and new policies that need to be rewritten/recreated
▪ Definition of a peer: sober? Not sober? And how perspectives can differ.
Submission Process
• Online: follow the link https://phabc.org/essential-practices-2020-submission-form/ and complete the submission form.
• By telephone: please email [email protected] and the project team will contact you to organize a date/time to connect.
• By video: please email the video to [email protected]. For access to the submission questions, click: https://phabc.org/essential-practices-2020-submission-form/.
Any Accessibility Needs?
Please reach out to let us know what you need to engage, and how we can best enable your participation.
Disclaimer:
CAI, PHABC and CMHA-BC will keep the information submitted through the form on file for six (6) months and then destroy the data. The information submitted will only be viewed by the Project Team. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.