Led by the Saskatoon Health Region and community partners, the Information on Building Relationships with Injection Drug users for Greater Engagement (BRIDGE) partnership was established in 2005. The partnership brings diverse stakeholders together in collaboration around issues relevant to populations affected by substance use. The partnership is built on a model of population health promotion that acknowledges the role of multiple determinants of health across all levels of society in health and health outcomes.
The goals of BRIDGE are:
- To IMPROVE the continuity of care for individuals coping with substance use, particularly injection drug use
- To RESPOND to the disproportionate burden of substance use and HIV/AIDS among Aboriginal populations
- To PROVIDE a supportive networking environment for organizations and service providers working with populations affected by injection drug use to allow such organizations or service providers to achieve their own goals and objectives
To achieve BRIDGE’s goals, 4 community pillars have been established: harm reduction, health promotion & primary prevention, treatment, and enforcement. Dr. Dell is the chair of the health promotion pillar & primary prevention working group. This pillar focuses on preventing substance use and promoting health among those communities affected by substance use. This working group builds on a model for population health promotion that examines determinants of health across all levels of society. With funding from the project grant and the Office of the Research Chair in Substance Abuse, University of Saskatchewan (funded by a grant from the Ministry of Health), the health promotion and primary prevention pillar is currently focusing its efforts on developing an innovative, community-based gender and diversity sensitive 45 minute educational workshop for service providers that addresses the role of stigma (that is, negative attitudes and behaviours) in accessing health services by people who inject drugs. The goal is two-fold: (1) to reduce the sigma service providers may have toward those who inject drugs; and (2) to provide hope to individuals who inject drugs through the sharing of their voices and capacity development. A follow-up evaluation of the impact of the workshop on participants’ attitudes and behaviours is being designed. The guiding principle of the workshop is captured in the words of Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel”. If you are interested in collaborating with the work of this pillar, please contact the Chair at colleen.dell@usask.ca or 306 966-5912. For more information on BRIDGE Saskatoon, you can contact the Coordinator, Meaghan Friesen at Meaghan.Friesen@saskatoonhealthregion.ca or 306 655-4339.