Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

North America is in the midst of a growing overdose crisis, inciting declarations of public health emergencies across the continent. The overdose crisis, which can primarily be attributed to the proliferation of fentanyl and related analogues, has been particularly severe in British Columbia, Canada, where four people die each day of overdose, and 87% of overdose deaths occur in housing. In response, innovative housing-based interventions are being implemented in housing environments, although research to date has yet to examine the ways in which housing environments act as overdose risk environments, and the role of such emerging housing-based interventions to address risk of overdose. The project I am requesting funding for will employ the principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR) to address this research gap. Through qualitative interviews, ethnographic fieldwork, and meaningful engagement of the community through collaboration with drug-user organization my proposed research project will address the following objectives: (1) To examine how contextual forces in housing environments shape high-risk injection practices; (2) To examine the implementation and impact of housing-based harm reduction interventions; and (3) To document innovative approaches to employing CBPR methods during a public health emergency. This research will generate urgently needed evidence to better inform policies and interventions to address the overdose crisis in BC and across North America, and will further understanding of housing as an overdose risk environment.