We believe we can improve the quality of life for British Columbians by investing in projects that improve health equity and social justice, by supporting upstream solutions to our modern problems, and by empowering people to take control of their health.

In other words: when we have equality and equity in our society, we all benefit. When we address root causes of issues, we see positive changes in our health and communities. When we take an active role in improving the health of our population, we’re better protected and can drive well-being in all aspects of our lives.

These core values have come through in the work we’ve done, and chosen to support at the BC Centre for Disease Control over the past year.

Reducing harms, the overdose crisis, and stigma

Through our Reducing Harms Priority, we worked closely with Toward the Heart (BCCDC’s Harm Reduction Services). The overdose crisis and stigma against people who use drugs has been ravaging our province for years. This is having catastrophic outcomes; people are not getting the support they need and are dying at alarming rates because of systemic inequities. We launched an anti-stigma campaign to break it down: your words matter. Change your language, remove the stigma, help curb the overdose crisis.

We also funded the expansion of a BCCDC program: Compassion, Inclusion, Engagement (CIE). CIE provides peer groups (people with lived experience of substance use), particularly those that are Indigenous and in remote/rural communities, with funding and capacity-building support to lead overdose response, harm reduction, and anti-stigma projects across BC. CIE empowers peers to create change at a local level, engage in life-saving overdose prevention work, and change the conversation with their local community about substance use.

During the #COVID19 pandemic, one of the groups we funded through CIE, Vernon Entrenched People Against Discrimination (VEPAD), set up a booth outside a library to hand out #naloxone & provide education on #overdose response: https://t.co/h038WYeOW1@towardtheheart @fnha

— BCCDC Foundation (@BCCDCFoundation) June 30, 2020

Activate Health

Activate Health is our battle cry for British Columbia (check it out on Instagram). It’s about empowering you to take control of your health and illustrate how our individual actions make a population-level difference.

Taking control of your health isn’t just about eating healthy and going for a jog (though, those are good, too!). You can take control of your health and improve our population’s health by being kind, curbing air pollution, recycling, using regular soap instead of antimicrobial soaps, and standing up against injustice. It’s all linked—social movements, the environment, social connectedness, law and policy, racial justice, and everything in-between impacts our health. And we have the power to improve it for ourselves and for others, making a difference to the health of society.

COVID-19

We couldn’t look back on the last year without including COVID-19. The pandemic has shown the world why we need public health, and why we need to invest in solutions before a crisis hits. Public health experts (like our superhero colleagues at the BC Centre for Disease Control) have been working to protect us and prevent a situation like this since…well, public health emerged as a field. Their work has prevented other epidemics and outbreaks, and what will get us through this. And yet, public health still receives less than 5% of government health funding in BC.

COVID-19 is scary, but we’re glad to see people invested in public health like never before. By partnering with the BCCDC we’re helping ensure that we’re prepared if something like this happens again—and you are making that possible. With the help of our donors, together we’re funding the research that will protect British Columbians from a second wave and future outbreaks.

Because of your support, we’re able to show BC that you don’t have to be a scientist to make a difference and fight this pandemic: you have the power to protect yourself, your community, and improve public health. You can wash your hands, you can stay home when you’re sick, and you can donate to the solutions that will prevent a future pandemic. Whatever you do, you’re making a difference. But we need all of us to be all-in to make it really work.

It’s been a full year. COVID-19 will be around for some time. But, we’re going to keep working with our BCCDC colleagues and with you to fight it every step of the way.

We’re going to continue advocating for health equity, and supporting public health solutions that tackle the root causes of health disparities. And of course, we’re going to keep inviting you to take control of your health and join us in our battle cry: Activate Health.

We’ll see what another year does for the health of our province. We think that with your help, it’ll look bright.

The post BCCDC Foundation Year in Review appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

But in the midst of one of the worst public health emergencies we’ve faced in recent memory, there’s still hope. By making a series of videos and downloadable resources with our partners, our goal has been to illustrate how we can all eliminate stigma by changing the way we speak. The overdose crisis and stigma are systemic issues, but you can make a difference on an individual level too. Change starts with an individual.

Social change on this level is inherently slow, but we know we’re making a difference. Over 550,000 people across BC were reached through LifeLab’s patient service centres in just the first month, and we expanded its reach beyond BC through social media. It even made it all the way to Scotland!

We’re so thankful for the support of our incredible partners, LifeLabs and Toward the Heart. Their leadership, support, and commitment to collaboration made this project possible. Just because the campaign has officially come to an end, doesn’t mean this work is over. As part of our Reducing Harms priority, we’re committed to supporting solutions to the overdose crisis, eliminating stigma, and lifting up people with lived experience as experts. We hope you’ll join us in this work by sharing these videos and resources with your friends and family, and leading brave conversations to eliminate stigma in your community.

Stay tuned with what our reducing harms priority will bring in 2020 by signing up for our monthly newsletter, and following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

The post Shedding Light on Stigma appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

Racism & health equity

“Racism within institutions & society influences how opportunities for health & well-being are distributed.”

Sume Ndumbe-Eyoh, from National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health took us on a deep dive into how race and racism impacts health, through the lens of equity. By looking at the different levels and ways in which racism permeates our world (internalized, interpersonal, institutional, and systemic), and how it negatively impacts health and contributes to inequitable access to health for those who are Black, Indigenous, and people of colour (BIPOC).

Regardless of the health issue we’re addressing—chronic disease, mental health, food security—race and racism must be examined in order to adequately address it. Sume’s workshop was a necessary and important reminder of this; as we grow as an organization we’re determined to incorporate those learnings into our individual and organizational work. You can learn more about racism and health equity here.

Project Inclusion, a study by Pivot Legal Society

Project Inclusion is an in-depth study and report taken on by Pivot that looked at anti-homeless and anti-drug user stigma and how those prejudices play out in policies, practices, and laws. Presented by Caitlin Shane, Meenakshi Mannoe, and Dave Hamm, they discussed how stigma against marginalized populations is perpetuated through cultural, economic, political, and legal powers, and constantly reinforces itself.

For example, labelling of a person as a person who uses drugs (cultural) then cause a knowledge gap in the form of stereotypes and misinformation (economic), which leads to loss of status through attitudes and behaviours (legal), which influences our laws and policies (political). These forces act on one another to continue the cycle.

This impacts public health in clear and direct ways. Stigma against people who use substances and who are homeless creates barriers to accessing services like healthcare, it contributes to increased rates of HIV and hepatitis C, it’s a factor in food insecurity, social isolation, and the list goes on. This is where social determinants of health are critical in improving health and well-being for our entire population.

You can check out the full report and some great explainer videos about Project Inclusion here.

ROSE Initiative, BCCDC, University of Victoria, RainCity Housing, Solid Outreach

Zahra Mamdani, Lacey Mesley, and Paige Phillips took us through the importance of supporting experiential/peer workers in overdose response environments. Since the overdose crisis was declared in 2016 challenges faced by peers (or experiential workers in front-line environments have grown exponentially. The ROSE Initiative (Recognition, Organizational support, Skill development, for Everyone) is an intervention designed to directly support these workers.

After conducting a needs assessment, significant gaps were found in adequately supporting peer workers. For example, providing workers with business cards and photo ID—to many of us, these are assumed to be provided to us as part of our jobs and we take for granted the legitimacy they provide. For experiential workers, this is a huge stepping stone in having their life-saving work properly recognized. Other interventions include having formal job descriptions, first aid and CPR and other skill development, peer debriefing supports, and networking opportunities with other professionals.

In a time where peer workers are leading the charge on overdose response work and are everyday heroes in their communities, it’s unimaginable that these supports are not already in place. But, we’re thrilled to see these groups working together to ensure peer workers have their needs met. Read more about the ROSE Initiative here.

Though there were many more great talks, the areas that align with our current projects and priorities were definitely stand outs and left us feeling inspired and invigorated to get back to the office and continue our work. Thanks to PHABC for putting on this conference every year so all us public heath folks can convene, engage and be inspired.

Stay up to date with this conversation and so much more by signing up for our monthly newsletter, and following us on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

The post Reflections on PHABC’s “Simplifying Complexity” appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.

We had the chance to speak one-on-one with folks from across the province about substance use, harm reduction, and how we can activate health and eliminate stigma together. Engaging in anti-stigma work is deeply important to us and is part of our Reducing Harms priority. Since 2016, BC has been in a public health emergency: the overdose crisis. We’re proud to be engaged in our own anti-stigma education work, as well as support programs like Compassion, Inclusion, Engagement at the BC Centre for Disease Control, to help put an end to the crisis.

Our executive director Kristy Kerr spoke alongside Erica Thomson, a peer expert and long-time advocate for people who use substances, in a presentation on de-stigmatizing substance use. Their presentation covered types and sources of stigma that people who use substances experience, the role it has in the overdose crisis, and how we can all play a part in eliminating stigma.

Interested in learning more about the overdose crisis and stigma? Hop on over to our resources page for FAQs, downloadable infographics, and additional resources to get started.

If you want to help us do more anti-stigma education, or you want to help peers (people with lived experience) engage in grassroots anti-stigma, overdose response, and harm reduction work in their communities you can make a charitable donation to our Reducing Harms priority today!

Don’t forget you can also sign up for our newsletter for monthly updates on what we’re doing, our priority projects, events and more!

The post Anti-Stigma Education and Recovery Day 2019 appeared first on Pacific Public Health Foundation.