Chatham-Kent’s Peer-2-Peer (P2P) project is about helping people to survive another day.
That’s what board of health members heard during an evaluation report on the project at the board’s May 2 meeting.
Dr. Shanker Nesathurai, medical officer of health for C-K, said opioid poisonings are prevalent here. Since Jan. 1, 16 people in C-K have perished as a result of opioids.
P2P was established in the middle of the pandemic, as eight agencies – Reach Out
Chatham-Kent (R.O.C.K.), United Way of Chatham-Kent, Women United, Chatham-
Kent Women’s Centre, LinCK, Ska:na Family Learning Centre, Chatham-Kent Health
Alliance and CK Public Health – teamed up in the wake of an increase in the number of opioid poisoning-related deaths and emergency medical calls.
They approached people with lived and living experience to work with them and find opportunities to address challenges.
Several volunteers and staff from various agencies spoke to the board, delivering a common message of how they realized they were not experts in this field.
Jordynne Lindsay, a public health nurse, said the peer-led outreach program had an immediate impact with her.
“Having worked in this area in public health, I quickly learned that I am not the expert. The project and relationships have fundamentally changed the way I view this work and redefined my view of success,” she said.
Renee Geniole, executive director of R.O.C.K., said she had her eyes opened while helping substance users.
“Peer-2-Peer has changed the way we do our work. We began with what we think we know, but that’s not the truth,” she said. “When we recognize our peers – our people living it – we decided that, ‘You tell us what you need; what’s a barrier?’ That was when we could dive deeper.”
Ken James is a P2P pathfinder working with R.O.C.K. He said acceptance of outsiders into the circle of people struggling with addiction and substance use takes time.
“I watched for three years before I decided to join them,” he said of R.O.C.K. “There are so many organizations out there that are a bunch of crap, but not them. I’m proud to be with them.”
James helps guide people to R.O.C.K. to “help them out the best they can. This gives the person the ability to take care of themselves.”
Kayla Stefik, the focused outreach worker for R.O.C.K., said even as someone with the lived experience, her views have been altered while with R.O.C.K.
“Being part of this team has changed how I think substance use should be handled,” she said, stressing the survival aspect. “I care about you. I want to see you tomorrow. I want to see you alive and well.”
Geniole agreed.
“The opioid crisis is scary. There are so many drug poisonings. We want to see people tomorrow,” she said. “But it’s not a simplistic answer…ever.”
P2P agency participants hand out items such as medical kits, sterile needles, drug testing kids and even crack pipes. The goal is to minimize spread of communicable diseases.
Stefik said supplying substance users with test strips allows them to test their supply and know what they are taking.
Geniole said testing to see if a substance includes fentanyl can save lives.
“We see a lot of overdoses in people who think they’re using meth, but there’s fentanyl in their supply,” she said. “And it’s a lot harder to reverse an overdose when there are tranquilizers and all these additives in the supply. If people know what they are consuming, they can make adjustments.”
Naloxone, a medication used to reduce the effects of opioids, is also distributed. It can also be purchased in pharmacies around Chatham-Kent.
Brock McGregor, chair of the board of health, commended the P2P program.
“I think so many people doing front-line work have been doing a great job. They’re addressing what is going on in our communities,” he said.
