The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction(CCSA) has shared a resource meant to help smaller Canadian cities address substance use harms.
“The Playbook for Action has over 50 evidence-based interventions that a community could draw from,” said Chandni Sondagar, a senior knowledge broker with the organization.
The playbook is a document outlining a number of municipally led interventions that communities could implement, along with examples from across Canada. The suggested measures range from workplace substance use policies, to support for opioid agonist therapy providers in communities.
While healthcare is a provincial issue, Sondagar says there are ways for municipalities to move the needle.
“ When we think about health, it doesn’t fall within the purview of municipalities. That largely sits within the provinces. But with that being said, that doesn’t mean that municipalities are powerless. They have a number of levers that they could be leaning on,” she said.
“It’s things like developing a community safety and well being plan, for example, or developing a substance use response strategy…this could also be things like offering community spaces to organizations that offer different services or social services and health supports, being able to bring together partners.”
The playbook is accompanied by an implementation guide, meant to help cities start down the road to taking action on the issue of substance use related harms.
“It essentially walks communities through this step-by-step process of…doing a community needs assessment, understanding what their local challenges are, what kind of assets and resources that they have and what their priorities are to then determine which of the interventions from this playbook their community could consider for implementation,” said Sondagar.
She says this is a complex issue, which municipalities are on the front lines of.
“What I really want to reiterate is that communities aren’t powerless. There are levers that they can be pulling on, and the playbook and guide can be a great resource as they embark on their process to understand what a response looks like. And here at CCSA, we’re more than happy to support. So if communities do want to learn more, I do encourage you to reach out to us,” she said.
“We’d be more than happy to have a conversation to see what we could do to support your community.”
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