Co-creating a Community of Practice around Substance Use and Employment to Address the Social Determinants of Drug Toxicity and Overdose in British Columbia

The proposed project establishes a provincial community of practice (CoP) in substance use, employment, and economic engagement that will advance the expansion of supported employment programming in British Columbia (BC). Despite evidence of work and employment as critical social determinants of health, existing programming that addresses equitable engagement for multiply barriered populations such as people with lived and living experience of substance use (PWLLES), has been fragmented and limited in scale and scope. The proposed initiative will bring together key informants from existing employment and economic engagement programs, PWLLES, Indigenous advisors, and subject matter experts from across BC to facilitate knowledge sharing, project development, and collaboration. Through the development of a core working group and sub-groups, this initiative: (1) facilitates capacity for best practices in knowledge generation, mobilization, and implementation of low-barrier employment programming for PWLLES; (2) expands a health and economic monitoring system that supports sustainable low-barrier employment programming; and (3) develops the capacity for a CoP to advocate for policy environments supportive of socio-economic integration.