Service Enhancement

  • Alignment Across Pillars: Reduce barriers for people accessing services with an equity centred and trauma informed approach and offer support to increase the accessibility of programs and services in both urban and rural settings (e.g., transportation, child minding, free services, mobile outreach etc.).
  • Short Term Priorities: Explore the possibility of a comprehensive withdrawal management program in Elgin-St. Thomas (identified as a quick win), and expand access to opioid substitution programs and counselling services.
  • Long Term Priority: Enhance capacity and availability of crisis support services.

Building Community Capacity

  • Alignment Across Pillars: Identify and prioritize annual evidence-informed training for ECDAS members and partners, and provide evidence-informed anti stigma training and promotion of respectful language and dialogue with all community partners that work across all four pillars.
  • Short Term Priority: Build community capacity by engaging people with Lived and Living experience at public speaking events. Conduct a community needs assessment to determine the acceptance and feasibility of Consumption and Treatment Services.
  • Long Term Priority: Provide education and training for healthcare providers to reduce healthcare stigma, particularly in regards to prescribing naltrexone and suboxone and offering alternative options for treatment.

Community Coordination

  • Alignment Across Pillars: Improve coordination between community partners that work across all four pillars.
  • Long Term Priorities: Improve access to healthcare, housing and coordinate referral services for people with Lived and Living experience, and collaborate with social, treatment, justice services to improve discharge planning, aftercare and continued community support upon release.

Advocacy

  • Alignment Across Pillars: Develop an advocacy strategy outlining advocacy efforts at the local, provincial and federal levels that is aligned with drug and alcohol advocacy efforts in other regions.
  • Long Term Priorities: Advocate to reduce experiences of stigma when accessing naloxone, including not limiting the number of naloxone kits distributed and equitable treatment of clients, and advocate for policy and legal change within the provincial and federal correctional systems that supports both harm reduction and treatment.