Compassion, Inclusion & Engagement (CIE)
CIE facilitated community based dialogues across BC that provided opportunities to build capacity and develop networks across and within health services and community agencies to foster and promote accessible, inclusive and culturally safe harm reduction services through ongoing peer engagement.
The Compassion, Inclusion and Engagement (CIE) initiative was a partnership between the First Nations Health Authority and the BC Centre for Disease Control that worked to create spaces for dialogue between people with lived experience of substance use (peers) and harm reduction service providers from 2015-2021. CIE worked closely with regional Health Authorities to support innovative local improvements in harm reduction service.
CIE facilitated community based dialogues across BC that provided opportunities to build capacity and develop networks across and within health services and community agencies to foster and promote accessible, inclusive and culturally safe harm reduction services through ongoing peer engagement.
CIE recognized that some people experience multiple barriers when accessing services such as racism, poverty, and concurrent mental health and substance use issues and worked to address these by supporting equitable and culturally safe processes and practices.
Through the engagement process, CIE learned that harm reduction services built on trust, respect, understanding and acceptance provide a safe and welcoming environment where people who use drugs are accessing harm reduction supplies and services most often.
Reports & Resources
From Peer-To-Peer - A collection of advice and learnings from peers for peers
CIE Final Evaluation Report (2015-2020)
