Standing
Graduate (Masters)
Type of Proposal
Poster Presentation
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Natalie Giannotti
Proposal
Background
Canadians are currently facing a national opioid overdose crisis which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Government of Canada, 2021d). A total of 22,828 opioid overdose deaths occurred in Canada between January 2016 and March 2021 (Government of Canada, 2021d). In Windsor-Essex County, there were 403 opioid overdose emergency department visits in 2021 (Windsor Essex Health Unit, 2021). Consumption and Treatment Sites (CTS) have been proposed to help overcome this crisis locally.
Purpose
The purpose of this infograph is to create a visual representation that describes the opioid crisis, identify CTS as an evidence-informed harm reduction strategy, as well as offer critical resources to those affected by opioid use.
Methods
A systematic review of the literature was performed to identify harm reduction strategies to address the opioid overdose crisis between 2016-2021. CINHAL, Ovid Medline, Google Scholar, and ProQuest were searched using a combination of the following keywords “harm reduction”, “overdose prevention”, “people who use drugs”, “drug use”, “overdose”, “overdose death”, “opioids”, “mortality”, and “substance use or abuse”, “safe OR supervised injection site OR consumption site OR facility”. A total of 1041 articles were found. Titles and abstracts were reviewed for each article. Articles addressing opioid abuse, harm reduction strategies, and safe consumption sites were included. All duplicate studies, and studies that did not meet the purpose of this infograph were removed. A total of 20 articles were included in this review.
Results
Current evidence supports the use of CTS as a vital harm reduction strategy. CTS can decrease opioid related overdoses and deaths (Behrends et al., 2019; Hayashi et al., 2021; Irvine et al., 2019), reduce the need for hospital and EMS services thereby leading to a cost reduction (Government of Canada, 2021c; Madah-Amiri et al., 2019), decrease rushed or lone injecting (Government of Canada, 2021c; Hayashi et al., 2021), and decrease the reusing and sharing of needles (Bayoumi & Zaric, 2018; Enns et al., 2016; Irwin et al., 2017).
Consumption and Treatment Sites: A Strategy to Overcome the Opioid Crisis in Windsor-Essex County
Background
Canadians are currently facing a national opioid overdose crisis which has been further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (Government of Canada, 2021d). A total of 22,828 opioid overdose deaths occurred in Canada between January 2016 and March 2021 (Government of Canada, 2021d). In Windsor-Essex County, there were 403 opioid overdose emergency department visits in 2021 (Windsor Essex Health Unit, 2021). Consumption and Treatment Sites (CTS) have been proposed to help overcome this crisis locally.
Purpose
The purpose of this infograph is to create a visual representation that describes the opioid crisis, identify CTS as an evidence-informed harm reduction strategy, as well as offer critical resources to those affected by opioid use.
Methods
A systematic review of the literature was performed to identify harm reduction strategies to address the opioid overdose crisis between 2016-2021. CINHAL, Ovid Medline, Google Scholar, and ProQuest were searched using a combination of the following keywords “harm reduction”, “overdose prevention”, “people who use drugs”, “drug use”, “overdose”, “overdose death”, “opioids”, “mortality”, and “substance use or abuse”, “safe OR supervised injection site OR consumption site OR facility”. A total of 1041 articles were found. Titles and abstracts were reviewed for each article. Articles addressing opioid abuse, harm reduction strategies, and safe consumption sites were included. All duplicate studies, and studies that did not meet the purpose of this infograph were removed. A total of 20 articles were included in this review.
Results
Current evidence supports the use of CTS as a vital harm reduction strategy. CTS can decrease opioid related overdoses and deaths (Behrends et al., 2019; Hayashi et al., 2021; Irvine et al., 2019), reduce the need for hospital and EMS services thereby leading to a cost reduction (Government of Canada, 2021c; Madah-Amiri et al., 2019), decrease rushed or lone injecting (Government of Canada, 2021c; Hayashi et al., 2021), and decrease the reusing and sharing of needles (Bayoumi & Zaric, 2018; Enns et al., 2016; Irwin et al., 2017).