WiP Seminar: Amanda Slaunwhite, Jenyo Banjo, Beth Snow, Kate Roth, and Mo Korchinski

Amanda Slaunwhite, PHD
Scientist, Advancing Health
Scientific Director, Correctional Health Services, BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services
Assistant Professor (Partner), School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia
Director, Canadian Collaboration for Prison Health and Education

Beth Snow, PHD, MBA, CE
Scientist, Advancing Health
Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Population & Public Health, UBC
Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Vice President, Canadian Evaluation Society

Jenyo Banjo, MPH
Program Manager and Evaluation Specialist, Advancing Health

Kate Roth, MA
Research Manager, Canadian Collaboration for Prison Health and Education

Mo Korchinski, RSW
Executive Director, Unlocking the Gates Service Society

“It makes me feel like I matter and that you guys believe that people can succeed.”

Implementing a peer-led program to reduce overdose among people leaving incarceration – The PREVAIL Project

Overdose is the leading cause of death among people with a history of incarceration. People who have been incarcerated are 3.5 times more likely to have an overdose death compared to people who have not been incarcerated, with most deaths occurring in the first two weeks post-release. In the context of the ongoing toxic drug crisis and layered social, economic and health inequities, there is a critical need to develop and evaluate peer-led interventions to reduce overdose deaths among people being released from incarceration.

Researchers from the Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, BC Centre on Substance Use, the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research, and the Canadian Collaboration for Prison Health and Education partnered with Unlocking the Gates (a peer-led non-profit organization) to study the implementation of a peer support program for people at-risk of overdose who were being released from BC’s provincial correctional centres. The intervention included providing cellular phones, care bundles, First Nations medicines, peer support, and harm reduction supplies at the time of release, and follow-up for two months post-release. In total, 120 people were enrolled in PREVAIL, with longitudinal qualitative and quantitative data collection on the day of release, and at one- and two-months post-release.

Using the data from PREVAIL, we developed a framework centered on the experiences of people released from provincial correctional centres who were at high risk of overdose death. The framework describes experiences with and perceptions of eight existing harm reduction interventions including overdose prevention services and prescribed safer supply. The framework also highlights facilitators and barriers to these interventions and provides suggestions for improving access and engagement.

This is a hybrid event, you may attend in person or virtually. Please register and indicate your preference.