Research conducted by the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) and academic collaborators has documented how compounding factors including inadequate access to sanitary spaces, barriers to consistent care and wound care supplies, and the volatility of the toxic drug supply contribute to wound development and progression among people who use drugs (PWUD). This research explored links between these factors and broader systemic challenges including nursing shortages and a lack of investment in suitable housing and low barrier primary wound care services, in ways that deepen health care inequities for this population. Amidst these persistent inequities, forms of informal caregiving operating outside the healthcare system have emerged to address gaps in care and support PWUD, including peer and personal wound care practices. Leveraging lived-expertise and relationships, these practices are adaptive and resilient approaches to meet the needs of PWUD in the context of persistent inequities in health care. At the same time, many PWUD have medically complex wounds that require specialized care, and some informal wound care practices can be ineffective or risk worsening wound outcomes. Therefore, this activity seeks to bring together researchers, health care providers, and people with lived experience to explore how research evidence can be leveraged to support community-based wound care practices.
This activity includes a 4-hour workshop between five people with lived experience from VANDU, three local nurses with advanced wound care training who provide care to PWUD, and a community-based researcher. Participants will come together to build and strengthen relationships and discuss ways to mobilize research to strengthen community-based wound care. The workshop will be opened by a community elder, led by a trained facilitator, with a graduate research assistant providing note-taking and coordination support. The first half will function as a knowledge-sharing and brainstorming session, creating space for participants to share perspectives, identify priorities, and review research evidence. The second half will serve as a collaborative planning session to co-develop concrete strategies to support community-based wound care practices. This will be co-developed in the workshop, but might include planning efforts to develop wound care educational materials or a wound care curriculum for PWUD. Discussions will be documented and shared with all participants.
Additional team members and participating organizations:
This project is co-lead by board members from Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU). VANDU was formed in 1998 to bring together groups of people who use drugs and is dedicated to improving the lives of drug users, their families, and our communities. VANDU is committed to increasing the capacity of people who use illicit drugs to live healthy and productive lives. This is done by affirming and strengthening people who use illicit drugs to reduce harms both to themselves and their communities. VANDU organizes in their communities to save lives by promoting local, regional, and national harm reduction education and interventions.