We began our work with the goal of creating a comprehensive strategy that was informed by the community, service providers, people who use substances and evidence/trends.
Over the past year we accomplished the following:
- Review of Surveillance Data to identify substance use trends in our community.
- Review other Community Drug and Alcohol Strategies to identify strategies that would be applicable to London-Middlesex.
- Environmental scan of Service Providers to understand current programs and services offered in the community. This allowed us to identify strengths and gaps.
- This work allowed us to identify a number of global themes that a Community Drug and Alcohol Strategy must address, including: Access to Services and Support, Harm Reduction, Social Determinants of Health, Education and Awareness and Problematic Substance Use.
We are nearing the completion of the development phase of the work. We will soon present 29 Draft Recommendations, which are based on service provider environmental scan results, review of other drug strategies, pillar workgroup expertise and consideration of our Mission, Vision and Guiding Principles.