COVID-19 & Substance Use in Canada: Impacts on Consumption, Services, and Service Providers

ISSUP would like to invite you to attend the upcoming Webinar on COVID-19 & Substance Use in Canada: Impacts on consumption, services, and service providers, presented by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). This Webinar will discuss substance use and mental health during COVID-19, impacts of COVID-19 on the substance use workforce and the provision of substance use services during the pandemic.

Time: 9AM - 10:30AM Eastern Time | 2PM - 3:30PM UK Time

Register for the Webinar

The presentation will cover 4 main areas of research:

Data on rates of substance use and mental health throughout the pandemic
Impacts of COVID-19 on the substance use workforce
Experiences with and perceptions of virtual care for substance use and concurrent disorders among clients and practitioners
The effects of COVID-19 Opioid Agonist Treatment guidelines on the delivery of care for both patient and practitioners

Learning Outcomes:

Learn about the changes in substance use during COVID-19
Understand how COVID-19 has impacted delivery of services and how this has affected clients and practitioners

Presenters:

Robert Gabrys is a Research and Policy Analyst at CCSA. Most recently, he has been involved in monitoring the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on substance use and mental health. Robert also works on several projects looking the health and social impacts of cannabis use.

Rebecca Jesseman is a respected and recognized subject-matter expert on drug policy. She provides trusted counsel and expert commentary and presentations at the national and international levels. She has received invitations to share her expertise with the Canadian parliament, numerous provincial governments, law enforcement, educators and service providers.

Anna Goodman has been a Research and Policy Analyst at CCSA for over 6 years and has expertise in cannabis, harm reduction and qualitative research. Since Spring 2020, Anna has been leading CCSA’s work on Virtual Care and collecting data on the virtual provision of services and supports for substance use and concurrent disorders during COVID-19.

Susan Barrass has been a Policy Analyst at CCSA for over two years. Susan’s recent work includes monitoring the impacts of cannabis regulation and legalization in Canada, alcohol policy changes during COVID-19, and policy considerations for transitioning to virtual services and supports. She has a background in health equity for underserved populations and serves on CCSA’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee.

Sue Cragg has been a Knowledge Broker with CCSA for a year and a half. She is working on the Opioid, COVID-19 and Virtual Care portfolios and is co-chair of CCSA’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee. She brings extensive experience in knowledge mobilization in the health promotion, health care, sport and long-term care sectors.