Searching for Solutions
As a former mayor of a mid-size city in Canada, I had a first hand account of the rise in social issues facing communities across North America. Searching for Solutions is about examining issues such as the housing crisis, homelessness, mental health, addictions and food insecurity to find disruptive solutions that are having a real impact. Each episode looks at an issue and features a guest that guides us through a problem to a solution. A great resource for people in communities looking how to make a difference at a time when many people are feeling helpless.
Searching for Solutions
Does safer drug supply have a role to play in the opioid epidemic?
Until the opioid epidemic touches your family or friends, concepts like safer drug supply are quite polarizing especially in Canadian politics. The concept is controversial but addictions is a complex affliction and through a better understanding of safer drug supply for drug users, can it be a part of a larger program that saves lives?
Dr. Andrea Sereda is a leading voice in Canada advocating for the use of safer drug supplies to stem the number of people who are dying from overdoses. She is a physician focused on street-level, at-risk programs working at the London InterCommunity Health Centre LIHC in London, Ontario. She also works with the hydromorphone Emergency Safer Supply substitution program. Additionally, she also works with Street Level Women at Risk (SLWAR), a program in the community that uses a housing stability approach to assist women who are experiencing homelessness and involved in street-level sex work.