Grant: Project Grant

Since 2016, more than 21,000 Canadians have died of an opioid overdose, with a current rate of 17 deaths per day. The overdose crisis worsened with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Western Canada and Indigenous Peoples continuing to be most impacted. In BC, rates of fatal and non-fatal overdoses hit record highs in 2020-21. Further, First Nations people were 5.3 times more likely to die of an overdose relative to other residents in BC. Safer supply initiatives (in which people access pharmaceutical grade substances or a regulated supply) are one way that the government and communities are responding to this crisis. This study will evaluate the ongoing implementation and outcomes of safer supply initiatives in BC, including both prescriber-based and grassroots-led models. It is an extension and expansion of our team's existing CIHR-funded evaluation of a provincial effort to support prescribed safer supply during the pandemic. Throughout 2020-21, we worked closely with government and community in conducting this research, and findings from our initial one-year study have been incorporated into updated provincial policy to support ongoing prescribed safer supply (released in July 2021). For this next iteration, we propose a strengthened partnership with Indigenous leaders, Elders and system partners to further Indigenous self-determining research and ensure action-oriented and culturally relevant findings. As BC continues this novel policy experiment, it is imperative that robust research continues to assess its implementation and outcomes.