This research will explore the role that food provision plays in mitigating risks that people who use drugs experience (PWUD). Using a risk environment framework operationalized through research with organizations who offer harm reduction services, we have identified a number of factors that contribute to, or are a result of food insecurity among drug users: 1) Physical effects including poor nutrition, disordered eating, increased risk of dietary related disease, poorer mental health, and increased exposure to pathogens; 2) Social effects from accessing food in socially inappropriate ways, stigma and loss of dignity; and 3) Economic effects, including the inability to afford enough healthy food, trade-offs between housing and food, and reliance on free meal programs. Utilizing a community-based research framework, this project will explore the ways in which food provision can mitigate the physical, social and psychological harms associated with drug use. A Community Advisory Committee (CAC) will help to develop, implement, interpret, and disseminate the research. We will develop an understanding of the role that food plays in the lives of PWUD, the barriers they experience in accessing food and the potential role that food programs can play in reducing drug-related harms. By connecting with stakeholders, including PWUD, service providers and policy makers, we will develop peer education, a toolkit for social service providers and a strategy for informing policy-makers.
(Research Team: Alison McIntosh, SFU; Cristina Tenemos, SFU; Dr. Christiana Miewald, UVIC; Rani Wangsawidjaya, Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation; Patrick McGougall, Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation)