Examining unregulated drug use among construction workers in the South Asian diaspora

Amidst the ongoing toxic drug overdose public health emergency, it is urgent to understand how to better support South Asian people who use drugs. Although race and ethnicity-based data is not collected by the BC Coroner service for toxic drug fatalities, a review of medical charts from 2015 to 2018 by the Fraser Health Authority found that fatal overdoses disproportionately rose among South Asian people compared to non-South Asians. The current proposal is in collaboration with the Surrey Union of Drug Users, a peer-led community-based organization that has raised concerns about the lack of supports for South Asian people. We seek to bring together South Asian people who use drugs with research users and researchers for a series of workshops, facilitated in Punjabi, to co-design a culturally meaningful and language-accessible research agenda and questionnaire. If successful, the proposed activities will enhance the quality of our research tools and provide insight on priorities for this population, ultimately leading to more relevant and culturally sensitive research findings and improved care for one of the fastest growing populations in Canada.