Compassion, Inclusion and Engagement Semi-annual Report

Findings from the BCCDC’s Peer Engagement and Evaluation Project (PEEP) have informed the development of Compassion, Inclusion and Engagement (CIE) initiative from its inception and provided evidence of the importance of peer engagement in service planning and evaluation. In the midst of the current public health emergency in BC and the urgent and immediate response that it requires, CIE is contributing to long-term, sustainable service improvement by building capacity within the system for peer inclusion and engagement and Indigenous cultural safety. CIE can provide a mechanism for dialogue, action, evaluation and reflection that supports this declaration. The CIE initiative is a partnership between FNHA, BCCDC and regional health authorities, which engages service users, service providers and leadership across the province in finding innovative and sustainable improvements within substance use harm reduction services. The engagement of service users is well recognized as an integral part of service and program planning and evaluation across health sectors, including harm reduction. Engaging harm reduction service users also serves to support the uptake and dissemination of harm reduction services, supplies and information within communities through existing peer to peer networks. Networks of intersectoral management and leadership provide a means of engaging all levels of influence to support sustainable systems change that is informed by ongoing, meaningful peer engagement.

Key findings related to emerging/promising principles for engaging PWLLE:

• Harm reduction services and supports in BC are meaningfully engaging and including service users in policy and program planning, development and evaluation with Indigenous cultural safety and cultural humility included as core elements across all programs, agencies and jurisdictions.
• Service users and service providers are working collaboratively with each other and with leadership to develop and provide accessible, non-judgmental, compassionate harm reduction within an adaptable and responsive system that supports peer empowerment and capacity development across an integrated network of public health, substance use and mental health services and supports.
• The Harm Reduction framework. As a public health approach to substance use, harm reduction informs and supports policy frameworks that maximize health and minimize individual and community harms.
• The Indigenous Cultural Safety and Cultural Humility framework.
• The Health Equity framework.
• Trauma-informed practice.

Key findings related to emerging/promising practices for engaging PWLLE:

• CIE is contributing to long-term, sustainable service improvement by building capacity within the system for peer inclusion and engagement and Indigenous cultural safety.
• Through dialogue and collaborative planning opportunities, and supporting intersectional networks across health authorities, agencies and community sectors, CIE is cultivating open dialogue, reflective practices and inclusive service planning and improvement.
• CIE can provide a mechanism for dialogue, action, evaluation and reflection that supports this declaration.
• CIE is connecting communities and agencies across the province to share what is working well and build on what we are learning together.

Key findings related to implementation approaches:

• Appreciative inquiry.
• Trans-theoretical change model.
• Diffusion of innovation theory.
• Outcome mapping (i.e., focusing on the contribution of a project or initiative to an outcome rather than the attribution of an outcome or impact to the project or initiative).
• Outcome harvesting (i.e., gathering information based on specific questions related to the initiative’s intended outcomes – outcomes are gathered through a participatory approach with the initiatives boundary partners and possibly others beyond its reach).
• Beneficiary Assessment. This approach compliments outcome mapping in that it is a qualitative methodology that focuses on the perspectives of service users or beneficiaries of a social innovation.
• CIE engagement sessions. Peers and service providers participate in capacity building and collaborative planning that can culminate in new relationships, new ideas and new skills.

Other Resource Materials (i.e., images, frameworks, tables…):

Diffusion of Innovation Model