​​Backgrounded by mounting concerns about the toxic drug public health emergency among First Nations communities around BC, First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) recently launched “With Open Arms", a project with the goal of providing First Nations youth with a hub where they can access information about substance use and harm reduction supports.

From the outset, it was important that the project be guided by First Nations youth voices. Before work was started, FNHA formed a provincial youth advisory committee composed of First Nations youth from around BC and beyond with varying relationships to substance use.  Over the next 18 months, the project was guided by their ideas and lived experiences.

The youth advisory committee and FNHA co-designed a toolkit intended to teach youth skills and provide them with information needed to have supportive conversations around substance use, harm reduction, wellness and recovery.

The toolkit is hosted on a website that features videos from the youth advisory committee, as well as videos with simulated conversations to demonstrate different ways to have these conversations. All these resources were fully developed and informed by First Nations youth every step of the way.​​

About the toolkit

The With Open Arms toolkit aims to support safer conversations about substance use. It provides information that spans the spectrum of substance use—from those who don't use substances at all to those who are using substances regularly. There are four areas of wellness that ground the toolkit:

• Promoting Healthy Communities
• Supporting Safer Substance Use
• Having Supportive Conversations about Substance Use
• Making Changes to Your Relationship with Substance Use

The toolkit is focused on skill-building, so the ideas within can be expanded to talk about any tough topic a young person might face.  The youth advisory committee wanted a resource that would be useful to young people, regardless of their relationship to substances.

Whether you're a peer, caregiver, educator or healthcare professional, you can use the With Open Arms toolkit to foster healthier communities, initiate supportive conversations and empower young people to navigate substance use with confidence and care.

Learn more or download the toolkit

The toolkit can be downloaded from fnha.ca/withopenarms​.