Options Community Services' new federally funded, two-year pilot project will offer detox at home, with Punjabi speaking outreach workers.
Options Community Services executive director Neil Arao , program manager Harpal Johl and outreach support worker Ritu Guglani.B.C. declared a state of emergency over toxic drug deaths nearly seven years ago, and the crisis is not waning. This week, the coroner announcedThe coroner does not release figures on the ethnicity of victims. In 2019,and found drug toxicity deaths among South Asians increased by 255 per cent between 2015 and 2018, compared to 138 per cent among other ethnic groups.
“On a daily basis, we’ll be contacting them through phone, text or in-person visits as needed, managing their withdrawal, supporting them with whatever they need,” said Guglani, who was a gynecologist in India for 15 years.Article content “Some may need a few attempts at detoxing to give themselves a break, and others may need this opportunity to move to their next step in their recovery plan,” said Arao, who formerly managed a detox program for Vancouver Coastal Health.Article content
A man looks at shoes hanging on the Burrard Bridge in 2020, each pair representing a life lost to a drug overdose.The pilot project will be evaluated by Julian Somers, director of SFU’s centre for applied research in mental health and addiction, who said the new program addresses a completely unmet need.
Also important for preventing relapse is the program’s ability to address underlying issues in the patients’ homes that may have contributed to the addictions, both Somers and Arao said.Arao hopes Somers’ research will document both the need for the program and the potential cost savings compared to residential centres. Ultimately, he’d like the program to get permanent funding and to be able to expand the team of eight.
If it appears during the weeklong home detox that clients would do better with residential care, START staff will refer them to Vancouver Detox or Harbourlight. Before discharging clients, START ensures their doctors have been notified or connects them with primary care, VCH said in an email.
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