Overview
Youth in Canada face increased risks due to substance use. The ongoing toxic drug crisis has been particularly devastating for youth and their families/caregivers. New approaches are needed to help youth who use substances and their families/caregivers find the care they need.
The Improving Treatment Together (ITT) Project was a community-based participatory research project that engaged youth who use opioids, their families/caregivers and service providers to understand their needs around youth substance use. After the needs assessment, participants developed prototypes, such as new services or resources, to address identified needs. Selected prototypes were co-developed with youth, families/caregivers and/or service providers from each partnering community and implemented and evaluated to assess their usefulness and identify areas for improvement. The overall goal of this project was to improve experiences and outcomes for youth who use opioids.
Project leaders included Jill Fairbank (Senior Knowledge Broker at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA)), Dr. Kirsten Marchand (then Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Foundry and current Foundry Research Scientist), Dr. Steve Mathias (Co-Executive Director at Foundry and Clinical Associate Professor at University of British Columbia (UBC)) and Dr. Skye Barbic (Head Scientist at Foundry and Associate Professor at UBC).
Funders
The ITT Project at Foundry was made possible by support from the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA).
Resources
- The ITT Project web page
- The ITT Project resources developed by youth, families/caregivers and service providers in Kelowna, Prince George, Vancouver and Victoria, British Columbia:
- Foundry story: Parents like us have something to say
- Marchand K, Fogarty O, Pellatt KM, Vig K, Melnychuk J, Katan C, Khan F, Turuba R, Kongnetiman L, Tallon C, Fairbank J, Mathias S, Barbic S. (2022). “We need to build a better bridge”: Findings from a multi-site qualitative analysis of opportunities for improving opioid treatment services for youth. Harm Reduction Journal. 19(1):37.
- Foundry story: “We need to build a better bridge”
- Marchand K, Tallon C, Katan C, Fairbank J, Fogarty O, Pellatt KM, Turuba R, Mathias S, Barbic S. (2021). Improving Treatment Together: A protocol for a multi-phase, community-based participatory, and co-design project to improve youth opioid treatment service experiences in British Columbia. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. 16(1):53.
- Marchand K, Turuba R, Katan C, Brasset C, Fogarty O, Tallon C, Fairbank J, Mathias S, Barbic S. (2022). Becoming our young people’s case managers: Caregivers’ experiences, needs, and ideas for improving opioid use treatments for young people using opioids. Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy. 17(1):34.
- Marchand K, Turuba R, Katan C, Fogarty O, Fairbank J, Tallon C, Mathias S, Barbic S. (2023). “The system always undermined what I was trying to do as an individual”: Identifying opportunities to improve the delivery of opioid use services for youth from the perspective of service providers in four communities across British Columbia, Canada. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. 18(1):1.
- Turuba R, Katan C, Marchand K, Brasset C, Ewert A, Tallon C, Fairbank J, Mathias S, Barbic S. (2024). Weaving community-based participatory research and co-design to improve opioid use treatments and services for youth, caregivers, and service providers. PLOS ONE. 19(4):e0297532.
- Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes story: Community involvement enhances opioid use treatments and services for youth
- Turuba R, Katan C, Tallon C, Marchand K, Barbic S, Fairbank J. (2023). The Improving Treatment Together Project Summary Report – British Columbia.