For people who use substances who cannot or do not have access to a supervised consumption site, washrooms can provide a private space that feels safe. However, when people use in washrooms, they can face serious risks including the risks of overdosing alone and potentially not receiving life-saving help in time. There are ways of making washrooms safer, but it can be difficult to know how. Best practices have been developed in the past few years to provide guidance to community-based organizations, businesses, health care institution, and other settings where washrooms are publicly accessible. Despite best efforts to make these best practices known, gaps remain. This project is designed to make share this information more broadly and improve washroom safety across the province. To make this happen, we plan on conducting consultation with various groups and developing a safer washroom campaign.
Team members: Shannon Riley (Vancouver Coastal Health); Kali Sedgemore (Vancouver Coastal Health); Trevor Goodyear (University of British Columbia)