Opioid-Related Toxicity Deaths Within Ontario Shelters: Circumstances of Death and Prior Medication & Healthcare Use

Archived webinar
by
CATIE

Release Date

2024

Geography

Canada

Language of Resource

English

Full Text Available

Yes

Open Access / OK to Reproduce

No

Peer Reviewed

No

Objective

This webinar exists to kick off the research report (linked on webinar webpage) about opioid-related toxicity deaths in homeless shelters. During the webinar, speakers share a summary of findings, as well as implications for policy and practice. This is followed by a discussion among community-based organizations and people with lived experience on how the report’s findings can help inform program improvements, as well as services and supports in shelters across the province. Speakers provide strategies that can guide harm reduction interventions, improve access to healthcare and help prevent avoidable deaths from substance use in shelters.

Findings/Key points

Between 2018 and 2022, the quarterly number of opioid-related toxicity deaths within shelters nearly quadrupled, rising from 8 deaths (Q2 2018) to 31 deaths (Q2 2022). Homeless individuals are disproportionately impacted by opioid toxicity, and this indicates an urgent need to  expand access to harm reduction services,  healthcare, social care, and treatment programs. 

Design/methods

The study conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of trends, characteristics, and patterns of healthcare use among people who died of an opioid-related toxicity within shelters in Ontario, Canada between January 1, 2018 and June 30, 2022 — a time frame that encompasses periods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Keywords

About PWUD
Barriers and enablers
Clinical guidance
Harm reduction
Hospitals
Housing
Illegal drugs
Mortality
Overdose
Poverty
Social benefits
Social services