FNHA has developed a visual media bundle to support partners in sharing insights from the Indigenizing Harm Reduction project.

The First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) has developed a visual media bundle to help partners share insights from the Indigenizing Harm Reduction project.

Starting in 2018, FNHA partnered with Simon Fraser University to begin a study aimed at co-developing a provincial, First Nations-led harm reduction framework. The project—Indigenizing Harm Reduction in Response to the Overdose Crisis: Knowledge Gathering with First Nations in B.C. to Create an Indigenous Harm Reduction Framework—responds to the ongoing toxic drug public health emergency, which continues to disproportionately impact First Nations people in British Columbia.

This work centres First Nations knowledge systems, lived and living experience and community‑led teachings as essential approaches to a more effective, culturally grounded toxic drug response.

At the heart of this project, is the teaching on the Medicine Basket of Harm Reduction. This teaching describes harm reduction as a respectful gathering of medicines and practices that support relatives who use substances on their healing journeys.

The new visual media bundle brings forward insights shared by First Nations community members and care providers who contributed to the project. It is designed to support partners in sharing these teachings in their own work and communities.

These materials are shared with care and with gratitude for those who offered their stories and teachings. We invite reflection on how these medicines show up in our own work, relationships and communities and how we can continue to support our relatives in these ways.

Download the media bundle here​ and info sheet here​ or contact rke@fnha.ca​ for more information.​