More assistance and housing the key to helping with the addictions problems of the North coast

A recent consultation session hosted by Northern Health has come up with its final report on addictions and how to help those that have them.

Northern Health's Let's Talk About Addictions and Mental Health consultations traveled to a number of northern communities, seeking out the feedback from residents across northern British Columbia.

While Rupertites highlighted some of the pro active measures in place locally, such as the all Native Basketball Tournaments and a theatre program run out of the Friendship House called Street Spirits that reaches out the areas youth, there were still key concerns for local participants in the survey.

The lack of youth prevention activities and lack of support for youths on the streets were among the main problems identified on the local scene as well as the need to return to the North coast a mental health advisory.

The full details on the survey and where things may go from here, were provided in Wednesday’s Daily News.

Addiction concerns are getting attention from NH
By Kris Schumacher
The Daily News
Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Pages one and three

Prince Rupert residents believe that transition housing for men and youths is urgently needed in the community, according to a recently released Northern Health (NH) report.

The final community summary reports from Northern Health's Let's Talk About Addictions and Mental Health consultations - which took place in various northern communities this spring - were recently released. The report breaks down the feedback that Northern Health received from each community, and summarizes what residents feel are the positives and negatives of addiction and mental health services in their communities.

Prince Rupert stakeholders who attended the consultation and offered feedback included individuals with personal experience as well as voices from local agencies and organizations. Aside from the expressed need for affordable housing and specialized housing for men and youth, people stated the need for a local residential treatment program as well as concerns about the growth in youth addictions throughout the community.

The lack of youth prevention activities and lack of support for youths on the streets were identified as contributing factors to the problem, and residents said they felt the need to re-establish a mental health advisory structure. Also brought to the attention of Northern Health was the absence of an HIV/AIDS support organization, and the implications of that absence for the health of community members.

There are some elements of support in Prince Rupert that people identified as beneficial to addressing and curbing addictions and mental health problems, the most obvious being the Transition House where women and their children can stay for up to 30 days. The All-Native Basketball Tournament was recognized as a very positive component toward promoting good health in the community, as well as the Street Spirits outreach program at the Friendship Centre, where theatre is used to discuss issues and engage community members, particularly at-risk youth.

While the Transition House was praised for it's work, the fact that there are not enough beds and spaces for women and children was brought up. It is currently funded for 13 beds but regularly is asked to house 20 women and children, which residents and staff feel is something that should be addressed immediately. More general concerns for improvement in Prince Rupert included a need for more youth outreach workers who can begin to address the addictive behaviour concerns many residents have for local youth.

There was also concern raised that Northern Health should improve the privacy and confidentiality of their office, which currently mixes all those seeking public health services.
As a result of the feedback they received, Northern Health has outlined several areas where they can provide leadership around issues and improvements to services.

Northern Health will consider increasing the hours of their needle exchange service and try to have someone trained to specifically deal with HIV/AIDS in the community. They will also be looking to remodel their office to support confidentiality, as well as take part in the aboriginal homelessness initiative.

Among other things, Northern Health also said it plans to look at improving the service people receive in crisis, especially at the Prince Rupert Regional Hospital. Changes include an on-call clinician for after-hours, and a mental health position in the acute care setting.