“Its an emotional roller coaster…But sometimes it’s awesome”: Meaning and motivation of work for peers in overdose response environments in British Columbia
Summary
This paper focuses filling the gaps in knowledge regarding meanings of work that serve as motivators for experiential workers in overdose response environments, thus enhancing knowledge of work experiences through a strength- based perspective.
Key Findings
PWLLE are at the forefront of overdose response initiatives and are essential in creating safe spaces for people who use drugs (PWUD) in harm reduction. Working in overdose response environments can be stressful, with lasting emotional and mental health effects. There is limited knowledge about the personal meaning that experiential workers derive from their work, which serve as motivators for them to take on these often-stressful roles. This project used a community-based qualitative research design in which eight experiential worker-led focus groups were conducted at two organizations in BC. Three themes emerged from focus group data that describe the meanings which serve as motivators for experiential workers to continue working in overdose response environments: (1) A sense of purpose from helping others, (2) Being an inspiration for others, and (3) A sense of belonging. Despite the frequent hardships and loss that accompany overdose response work, experiential workers identified the important aspects that give their work meaning. These aspects of their work may help to protect workers from the emotional harms associated with stressful work as well as the stigma of substance use. Recognizing the importance of experiential work and its role in the lives of PWUD can help inform and strengthen organizational supports.
Key findings related to emerging/promising principles for engaging PWLLE:
- PWLLE are at the forefront of effective overdose response and prevention services for PWUD
- Engagement of experiential workers is recognized nationally and provincially as a best practice in harm reduction
- Studies show that experiential workers often live in situations of structural vulnerability in which opportunities to use their experiential wisdom are not always available or their expertise is not valued. Social, political and eco- nomic factors influencing drug laws and its enforcement exacerbate these vulnerabilities
- Trust is essential as a foundation for connecting people to services especially given the context of distrust that is exacerbated as consequence of drug laws that criminalize use. Experiential workers, with shared experiences, are able to reach people that others cannot, allowing them to act as a translator between PWUD and other service providers
- Recognition that experiential work plays an important role in the quality of life of PWUD will inform strategies that bolster these positive sentiments and lead to implementation of interventions that improve the extent to which experiential workers can reap gains from their jobs
Key findings related to emerging/promising practices for engaging PWLLE:
Recognition of the inextricability of the positive and negative dynamics is crucial in evaluating the relationship that experiential workers have with their jobs – the positive aspects of the job must be analyzed in conjunction with the stressors when designing support interventions that bolster the positive effects of experiential work while ameliorating the accompanying stressors
Key findings related to policies:
(From “Background” section – not direct findings from this article)
- For PWLLE, seeking employment within a legal framework that criminalizes drug use causes major barriers to employment and can constrain peers’ capacity to participate in employment settings (e.g., having a criminal record can prevent PWLLE from getting jobs)
- Work settings often frame drug use as a criminal behavior or require abstinence before PWLLE are considered “employable’”
- Abstinence-based work cultures may perpetuate negative views towards experiential workers and assert that peers cannot meaningfully contribute to strategies that address the opioid crisis