Overdose intervention project shows Vancouver needs more social housing: researcher

published on August 2, 2018 by Hana Mae Nassar in News 1130

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A new study is shining a different light on single room occupancy hotels in Vancouver when it comes to overdoses.

Researchers say the city needs to invest in more SROs and other low-income housing options in order to ensure more people receive the overdose interventions they need.

As part of a six-month pilot project, several people living in 10 SRO hotels were brought in to take part in a peer-led intervention initiative.

“People who use drugs, supported by a nurse, were delivering Naloxone education and training and distribution in private single-room occupancy hotels in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside,” explains research scientist Ryan McNeil with the BC Centre on Substance Use. “These private SROs were chosen on the basis of being some of the highest overdose buildings in Vancouver.”

McNeil says these buildings tend to be quite isolated. It’s because of this he claims there are “very few interventions” in them. That’s why peer-led intervention was identified as something that could make a difference.

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