Lindsey Richardson
Congratulations to Associate Professor Lindsey Richardson for receiving funding through Michael Smith Health Research BC’s 2024 Convening & Collaborating and Reach competitions to bridge the gap between evidence and impact.
Professor Richardson received funding for two projects that seek to support people with lived and living experiences of substance use through knowledge generation and mobilization.
The first, “Co-creating a Community of Practice around Substance Use and Employment to Address the Social Determinants of Drug Toxicity and Overdose in British Columbia,” seeks to bring together key informants from across BC to facilitate knowledge sharing, project development, and collaboration.
The “Co-creating a Community of Practice” project is funded by Health Research BC’s C2 program, which supports researchers by co-developing research that can have direct impacts on people, including patients, health practitioners and policy makers.
The second project is funded by the Reach program, which promotes knowledge translation (KT) activities by supporting researchers in disseminating research evidence.
The project is titled “Evidence as a community ASSET – Establishing a circular data model to support integrated knowledge exchange in the Assessing Economic Transitions (ASSET) Study.” This second project aims to expand a circular data model that supports health and social service providers to use data from the Assessing Economic Transitions Study (ASSETS), a mixed methods evaluation of the impacts of low-threshold economic opportunities for the well-being of People with Lived and Living Experience of Substance Use (PWLLES).
Read the full project descriptions below.
Co-creating a Community of Practice around Substance Use and Employment to Address the Social Determinants of Drug Toxicity and Overdose in British Columbia
Co-Lead: Sean Condon (Exchange Inner City)
Research Location: BC Centre on Substance Use
The proposed project establishes a provincial community of practice (CoP) in substance use, employment, and economic engagement that will advance the expansion of supported employment programming in British Columbia (BC). Despite evidence of work and employment as critical social determinants of health, existing programming that addresses equitable engagement for multiply barriered populations such as people with lived and living experience of substance use (PWLLES), has been fragmented and limited in scale and scope. The proposed initiative will bring together key informants from existing employment and economic engagement programs, PWLLES, Indigenous advisors, and subject matter experts from across BC to facilitate knowledge sharing, project development, and collaboration. Through the development of a core working group and sub-groups, this initiative: (1) facilitates capacity for best practices in knowledge generation, mobilization, and implementation of low-barrier employment programming for PWLLES; (2) expands a health and economic monitoring system that supports sustainable low-barrier employment programming; and (3) develops the capacity for a CoP to advocate for policy environments supportive of socio-economic integration.
Evidence as a community ASSET – Establishing a circular data model to support integrated knowledge exchange in the Assessing Economic Transitions (ASSET) Study
Co-Lead: Brianne De Man (EMBERS Eastside Works)
Research Location: BC Centre on Substance Use
