Province of British Columbia
Performance Evaluation of Provincial Overdose Emergency Response
We are currently in the final stages of a two-year evaluation of the Provincial Overdose Emergency Response in BC. The design and operation of the evaluation included an evaluation advisory committee with representation from three people with lived and living experience of drug use, as well as working with Community Action Teams, care providers, Health Authorities, and the Ministries of Mental Health and Addictions and Ministry of Health. As part of this evaluation we were tasked with integrating system level as well as community knowledge in a way that allows for an understanding of how the initiative is progressing relative to its intended goals.
Vancouver Women’s Health Collective (VWHC)
Reclaiming Our Spirits 2
The VWHC, in partnership with Kílala Lelum (Urban Indigenous Health and Healing Cooperative) and other key partners, are expanding on the work of the Aboriginal Women’s Intervention (AWI) by Drs. Colleen Varcoe and Annette Browne (UBC) and Dr. Marilyn Ford-Gilboe (Western University). The aim of the initiative, funded by Federal Government’s Ministry of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE), is to support Indigenous women who have experienced gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence as well as structural and racial violence, through one-on-one nursing support and spiritual care. We are supporting the adaptation of the initiative for the community context and are conducting a culturally safe and relevant evaluation, rooted in a decolonized approach, to evaluate its implementation and impact over the next three years.
The evaluation is also informed by an empowerment approach, which aims to address health and social inequities by amplifying historically excluded voices and by building capacity amongst these individuals and the organizations that support them. This approach can help foster a sense of ownership over the evaluation amongst the VWHC and Kílala Lelum, as well as the women supported through the initiative.
Community Action Initiative (CAI)
Community Counselling Fund
We are in the first year of a 3-year evaluation of the Community Counselling Fund. The Community Action Initiative, in partnership with the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions and the Ministry of Health, has made funding available for existing community counselling projects across BC. The objective of the CCF is to expand access to quality, affordable community counselling in British Columbia. With equity as a guiding principle, the fund is intended to advance the goals of the Province of British Columbia’s A Pathway to Hope: A Roadmap for Making Mental Health and Addictions Care Better for People in British Columbia.
Our team is supporting the evaluation of the Community Counselling Fund by implementing a province-wide evaluation that not only supports the operation and development of local programming areas but provides system level understanding of the impacts, challenges and opportunities that an initiative like this provides. As part of our approach we are incorporating Social Network Analysis so that we can comment on indirect impacts in communities.
BC Divisions of Family Practice
Primary Care Networks
The intention of Primary Care Networks across the province is to create a networks of family practices (or Patient Medical Homes) in a defined geography linked with each other and with other primary care services delivered by the health authority and community-based organizations. The PCN is also intended to support teams of allied health professionals (AHPs), other health care providers and community groups to work with GPs so that everyone can work to their strengths, support and rely on each other, and provide the best care to all residents.
We are supporting several Divisions of Family Practice with their PCN work, including assisting with the development of service plans, creating comprehensive evaluation frameworks in collaboration with key stakeholders, collecting data, and reporting on key findings and learnings as they arise to inform implementation.