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Prescribed Safer Supply - Emerging Evidence: This evidence brief produced by the NSS-CoP summarizes existing and newly emerging evidence regarding prescribed safer supply. It covers who can access prescribed safer supply, evidence from research and evaluation studies, success factors for prescribed safer supply programs, and much more. Click here to read the full evidence brief!
NSS-CoP Resource Library: Did you know we have a resource library with OVER 1,000 resources on safer supply? You can access it for FREE anytime. It features academic journal articles, grey literature, knowledge translation materials, clinical practice guidelines, and more!
Knowledge Exchange Series on Safer Supply - Health Canada: In fall 2022, Health Canada hosted a 3-part, virtual Knowledge Exchange Series (KES) on Safer Supply, with key stakeholders. The purpose of the KES was to hear from a range of participants on the current evidence and knowledge around safer supply, share experiences of what is or isn’t working well, and discuss how current research and knowledge can be used to design new models and services while reducing risks or unintended results from these programs. This report summarizes findings from the three KES sessions, including the presentations, panel discussions, and participant discussions during the small breakout rooms.
Substance Use Patterns and Safer Supply Preferences Among People Who Use Drugs in British Columbia: In March 2023, the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) published a report on safer supply preferences among people with lived experience in BC. As defined in the publication, safer supply refers to a legal and regulated supply of drugs and pharmaceutical alternatives to drugs that have been traditionally criminalized. Data was obtained from the Harm Reduction Client Survey, which surveyed individuals who accessed harm reduction distribution sites across BC, and interviews and focus groups with people with lived experience of substance use. The purpose of the study was to identify strengths and challenges of the current implementation of safer supply in BC, in order to improve future models of safer supply in BC. The report outlines thirteen recommendations provided by the authors, based on the results of the study. Read the full report here and the infographic summary here.
Best Practices for Supporting People Who Use Substances - SafeLink Alberta: As a component of the Substance Use Capacity Building Project, SafeLink Alberta has developed the Best Practices for Supporting People Who Use Substances Toolkit. Over the past year, SafeLink Alberta conducted a review of available literature and consulted with people with lived and living experience, service providers who support people who use substances, and other industry experts to inform their toolkit. Click here to download your copy!
Choosing a New Direction - Drug Strategy Network of Ontario: The Drug Strategy Network of Ontario is inviting all municipalities and area partners in Ontario to take strategic action to end the drug poisoning crisis. Three infographics - in English, French, and plain text - were developed by municipal drug strategy members to assist you and your networks in advancing the opportunities to improve both individual and community health and safety. Download and discover interactive links provided by the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario.
Prescribed Safer Supply Protocols - Fentanyl Patch: These resources provide a standardized protocol for the provision of fentanyl patches to reduce reliance on the illicit drug supply and associated harms. This protocol is adapted from PHS Community Services Society’s Fentanyl Patch Policy and Vancouver Coastal Health’s Fentanyl Patch Clinical Operational Manual.
HIV self-tests are here! Now what? In August 2022, the Government of Canada announced new funding to purchase and distribute HIV self-test kits across the country. The kits are being distributed to individuals and communities most affected by HIV through a combination of community-based organizations and mail orders placed online. CATIE and REACH Nexus - Community Link are collaborating to distribute HIV self-test kits to organizations that support the health of people who use substances. We, alongside many other groups, are working together to engage interested community-based organizations and services, and ensure that they receive kits, training, logistical support and information resources. How your organization can participate: Organizations that would like to learn more or sign up are encouraged to contact Ayibatonye Oriakhi at aoriakhi@catie.ca. We can give you more information and ensure you have access to appropriate quantities, training and support, and receive information resources to distribute with your self-test kits. To learn more about HIV self-testing, visit the CATIE website.
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RESEARCH PAPER OF THE MONTH
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Giang, K., et al. (2023). Risk mitigation guidance and safer supply prescribing among young people who use drugs in the context of COVID-19 and overdose emergencies | International Journal of Drug Policy
Highlights:
- In British Columbia, risk mitigation guidance prescriptions of hydromorphone tablets were introduced during COVID-19 to reduce risks of withdrawal and overdose in the context of greater isolation
- Young people who use drugs in Vancouver hoped that these prescriptions would offset their use of illicit fentanyl, but use of the latter persisted
- The prescriptions could constitute forms of harm reduction and survival in the context of entrenched poverty
- More robust medical and community-based safe supply programs are urgently needed alongside various forms of substance use treatment
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We encourage NSS-CoP members to email info@nss-aps.ca with submissions to include in our newsletter. Content examples include but are not limited to community-led projects, peer-reviewed articles, grey literature, government publications, etc.
- Haines, M., & O’Byrne, P. (2023). Safer opioid supply: qualitative program evaluation | Harm Reduction Journal
- Clay, S., et al. (2023). ‘I just thought that was the best thing for me to do at this point’: Exploring patient experiences with depot buprenorphine and their motivations to discontinue | International Journal of Drug Policy
- Darnton, J. B. (2023). “Sign Me Up”: a qualitative study of video observed therapy (VOT) for patients receiving expedited methadone take-homes during the COVID-19 pandemic | Addiction Science & Clinical Practice
- D’Onofrio, G., et al. (2023). Incidence of Precipitated Withdrawal During a Multisite Emergency Department–Initiated Buprenorphine Clinical Trial in the Era of Fentanyl | JAMA Network Open
- Fleming, T., et al. (2023). “It's no foundation, there's no stabilization, you're just scattered”: A qualitative study of the institutional circuit of recently-evicted people who use drugs | Social Science & Medicine
- Comeau, E., et al. (2023). 'More of the same, but worse than before': A qualitative study of the challenges encountered by people who use drugs in Nova Scotia, Canada during COVID-19 | PLOS One
- Barocas, J. A., et al. (2023). Population-Level Health Effects of Involuntary Displacement of People Experiencing Unsheltered Homelessness Who Inject Drugs in US Cities | Journal of the American Medical Association
- Macdonald, V., et al. (2023). New data confirm lack of progress in harm reduction after three decades of proven evidence of effectiveness | Addiction
- Jawa, R., et al. (2023). Estimated Clinical Outcomes and Cost-effectiveness Associated With Provision of Addiction Treatment in US Primary Care Clinics | JAMA Network Open
- Brooks, O., et al. (2023). Re-incarceration and associated social, structural and behavioural factors among people who use drugs in an urban Canadian setting | International Journal of Drug Policy
- Hassan, M. R. A., et al. (2023). Assessing feasibility of a modified same-day test-and-treat model for hepatitis C among rural people who inject drugs | Harm Reduction Journal
- Jarlenski, M., et al. (2023). Association of Race With Urine Toxicology Testing Among Pregnant Patients During Labor and Delivery | JAMA Health Forum
- Poulter, H. L., et al. (2023). More than just ‘free heroin’: Caring whilst navigating constraint in the delivery of diamorphine assisted treatment | International Journal of Drug Policy
- Jaffe, K., et al. (2023). “As long as that place stays open, I’ll stay alive”: Accessing injectable opioid agonist treatment during dual public health crises | Harm Reduction Journal
- Austin, T., et al. (2023). Women who use drugs: engagement in practices of harm reduction care | Harm Reduction Journal
- Enns, B., et al. (2023). Cost-effectiveness of flexible take-home buprenorphine-naloxone versus methadone for treatment of prescription-type opioid use disorder | Drug and Alcohol Dependence
- Daniulaityte, R., et al. (2023). Attitudes and experiences with fentanyl contamination of methamphetamine: exploring self-reports and urine toxicology among persons who use methamphetamine and other drugs | Harm Reduction Journal
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COMMUNITY UPDATES & EVENTS
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2023 Stimulus Conference: Registration is now open for Stimulus 2023, the largest national harm reduction and drug policy gathering in Canada! Stimulus 2023 is a two-and-a-half day event scheduled October 5-7, 2023 in Ottawa, Ontario. They expect to welcome 1,500 people whose expertise includes substance use experts, nurses, social workers, physicians, corrections staff, frontline workers, people involved in sex work, researchers, and other key stakeholders from across Canada. You can register now here! Stimulus 2023 is also now accepting calls for abstracts, activities, presentations, and ideas for the conference. The deadline is May 8th, 2023. Submit yours here!
Solidarity Teams Workshop for Workers with Vikki Reynolds - AIDS Bereavement and Resiliency Program of Ontario (ABRPO) - May 4th, 2023: In this workshop on May 4th (morning and afternoon sessions available), the following questions will be addressed: How can we build Solidarity Teams for our collective care and sustainability? How can we hold onto our solidarity and our fabulous and painful histories of joint struggle against multiple oppressions including Necropolitics & structural abandonment? How do we stay in dialogue, with respect, across time, without getting caught up in using power-over practices or re-enacting the abuses of power we are fighting against? How do we enact the analysis and justice-doing we want to create more of? How can we nurture ‘Cultures of Critique’, embrace hopeful skepticism and enact our collective ethics as social justice movements? When resisting powers that work to divide us, how do we enact collective accountability, embrace groundless solidarity and infinite responsibility, and co-create an ethical stance of believed-in hope? You can register here for free for the morning or afternoon session.
Connected Communities: Building Equitable Integrated Healthcare: The Alliance for Healthier Communities will hold the annual primary health care conference, Connected Communities: Building Equitable Integrated Healthcare, on June 7-8, 2023, at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel & Suites. At the Connected Communities conference, they will focus on community-led innovation and solutions tapping into new research results and evidence-informed practices that are demonstrating how integrated care systems that focus on health equity and community are improving population health outcomes. Register now! The NSS-CoP's session, the Ontario Model of Prescribed Safer Supply, is on June 8th.
Petition to the Government of Canada - e-4292 (Health): There is currently a petition open for signatures calling for the refinement of the national approach to treating substance use disorder to emphasize evidence-based harm reduction strategies like safe consumption sites, safer supply, and drug checking services. You can sign on here until July 14th, 2023.
META:PHI Webinar Series 2023: Check out and register for the META:PHI webinar series line up for 2023. META:PHI hosts a virtual presentation on the second Wednesday of each month from 7:00pm to 8:30pm ET. These sessions are intended for service providers who work with people who use substances. All sessions are free.
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CALL OUT FOR SPEAKERS AND PRESENTERS
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Dear NSS-CoP members,
We'd love to involve more of you in our work. This is an open invitation for you to chat with us if you think you might like to be:
- on our speakers/presenters list (e.g., weekly drop-ins, webinars, presentations, etc.)
- a facilitator, moderator, or presenter at a role-specific meeting
(e.g., clinicians/prescribers, nurses, program operators, etc.)
- something else we haven't thought of yet!
If you're interested, drop us a line at info@nss-aps.ca.
We look forward to hearing from you,
NSS-CoP team
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National and General News:
British Columbia:
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Manitoba:
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Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut:
Québec (et en français s'il vous plaît!):
Atlantic Region (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador):
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