Edmonton Drug Poisoning and Overdose Response Teams Evaluation Summary

In Spring of 2022, Edmonton’s Streetworks harm reduction program, at the request of City Centre Mall and other central Edmonton partners (Commerce Place, Manulife Place), began providing outreach harm reduction services on site for people who use drugs (PWUD). Three nurse-outreach worker dyad teams patrol the mall public areas (e.g. food courts, bathrooms, pedways, lobbies, stairwells) and provide overdose response services, harm reduction supplies, basic wound care and other nursing care, and referrals to additional health and social supports as needed.

Our team aimed to evaluate the central Edmonton mall harm reduction outreach teams by exploring key stakeholder perspectives on the outreach teams' impact on the health and safety of people who use drugs (PWUD), associated impacts on mall businesses and staff, and recommendations for program refinement. 

The Streetworks Overdose Prevention and Response Teams demonstrated a number of key impacts on the health and wellbeing of PWUD publicly throughout the downtown area in the short time they have been in operation including enhancing trust for health services, mitigating the number of EMS responses, enhancing referrals to community services, and distributing a voluminous number of unused supplies and naloxone throughout the community. To ensure sustainable growth, effective collaboration, and ongoing impact, we reocmmended specific capacity-building, education and training, and collaboration and communication strategies to support the work of the outreach teams within and, potentially, beyond the bounds of Edmonton’s CBD.

Study Lead: Ginetta Salvalaggio

Study Coordinator: R. Marcus Hammond

Status: Complete