Improving hospital care for people who use substances is the focus of a new project led by VIU researcher Dr. Sharon Karsten.
VIU Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Professor Dr. Sharon Karsten is a Health Research BC Scholar focused on developing small-city responses to the rising drug poisoning and housing crises. (Photo: Vancouver Island University)
The project aims to reduce barriers, strengthen collaboration between hospitals and community groups, and help design better systems of care.
Karsten's three-year project is supported by a Mitacs Accelerate grant. She will bring together hospital leaders, staff, patients, students and community organizations to identify challenges and develop solutions to improve care for people who use substances.
"We know that people who use substances often face bias and discrimination when interacting with health-care systems," she said. "This bias can play a role in preventing this population from seeking help at hospitals and other care sites."
The funding will support post-secondary students and postdoctoral researchers working in Island Health and community settings.
The project is a collaboration with the Walk With Me Association, which responds to the toxic drug crisis and works to improve care. Based at Comox Valley Hospital, researchers will gather information through surveys and group discussions, examine strengths and gaps in hospital systems, and review the experiences of patients and staff.
"This work is highly dependent on relationships. It includes the diverse perspectives, experiences and skills held across community," she said. "We hope to reduce some of the siloes historically entrenched within systems of care by bringing many people together."
Karsten said input from people with lived and living experience of substance use will guide the work.
"This work must be relevant to, and driven by, those who are living or have lived this crisis first-hand," she said. "Without this leadership, we risk missing the mark on the types of changes that will make a difference."
Karsten hopes the project will "reduce stigma for people who use substances, improve access to care and strengthen relationships between hospitals and community health organizations."
