SHRF Solutions: Addictions
Substance Use and Addictions Hub
Why Addictions Research
Addictions are a pressing health concern for all of Saskatchewan. Driven by a combination of complex health, social and systemic factors, the impact of substance use and addictions reaches far and wide.
SHRF’s Solutions - Addictions Focus Area asked teams in Saskatchewan to identify innovative and impactful approaches to address gaps throughout the substance use and addictions landscape, including: education, prevention, screening, harm reduction, treatment and recovery strategies. Working together, including those with lived/ living experiences, is a way to ensure that strategies are effective and services provide the necessary support.
Investments in Addictions
Health Research
Over the past four years, SHRF and our partners have invested $2,219,610 through the Solutions Program to fund 19 projects looking to find innovative and practical solutions to address health concerns surrounding substance use and addictions.
Addictions was the focus area of the 2021-22 and 2022-23 Solutions Program competitions; however, additional projects overlapping with the Child & Youth Health and Rural & Remote Health focus areas have also been funded over the years.
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Approach to Care
Of the funded research projects, teams have identified solutions that connect people to care (8 projects), reinforce health system supports (4 projects), and support community-driven responses to addictions (7 projects).
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15 out of 19 projects included people with lived experience.
Involvement of people with lived experience
Community Organizations
Over 10 community organizations represented on the research teams.
Communities Involved
Projects carried out in 14 different communities​
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La Loche
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Regina
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Saskatoon
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Balcarres
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Lebret
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Cowessess
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Prince Albert
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Waterhen
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Pelican Narrows
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La Ronge
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Stony Rapids
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Hatchett Lake
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Southend
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One Arrow First Nation
Explore the Solutions Addictions Recipients
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Funded in 2021-22
Innovation Grant: Exploring the complexities of substance use and addiction among immigrants in Regina.
Led by: Geoffrey Maina, University of Saskatchewan
Innovation Grant: Co-creating High School Student Wellness Initiatives
Led by: Marcella Ogenchuk, University of Saskatchewan
Impact Grant: Co-design and testing of a self-regulatory skills + physical activity intervention: Implementation outcomes and impacts on physical activity, pain management, and opioid use among Saskatchewan adults living with chronic pain
Led by: Nancy Gyurcsik, University of Saskatchewan
Impact Grant: Cultural Revitalization as Community-Level Addictions Support
Led by: Cari McIlduff, University of Saskatchewan
Impact Grant: Enhancing Impact of Internet-delivered Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Alcohol Misuse by Addressing Co-morbidity and Improving Patient Narratives: A Patient-Oriented Research Approach
Led by: Heather Hadjistavropoulos, University of Regina
Co-Funded: Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research
Innovation Grant: Solutions-focused storytelling to promote people-centered care: challenging stigma with chronic pain and substance use through graphic medicine
Led by: Susan Tupper, Saskatchewan Health Authority
Co-Funded: Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research​
Innovation Grant: Cultural Care for Addictions: A Peer Network Based Approach
Led by: Stuart Skinner, University of Saskatchewan ​
Innovation Grant: Building Connections, Exploring Possibilities, and Reducing Harm for Staff and Persons with Substance Use Disorders within the Lighthouse Facilities through the use of Participatory Action Research and the Meaningful Engagement with those affected by Substance Use Disorders
Led by: Anthony de Padua, University of Saskatchewan
Impact Grant: Emergency Department Visits for Substance Addiction and Their Consequences: A Saskatchewan Population-based Retrospective Cohort Study
Led by: Charles Plante, Saskatchewan Health Authority
Impact Grant: Advancing Tobacco Control in Saskatchewan: An Integrated Equity-Informed Approach
Led by: Erika Penz, University of Saskatchewan​
Funded in 2022-23
Impact Grant: Community as Cure: A Multi-Disciplinary Endocarditis Clinical (MENDO) Pathway
Led by: Benjamin Leis, University of Saskatchewan
Innovation Grant: Community-Directed Virtual Care Strategies for the Management of Neuropathic Pain in Remote Indigenous Communities: A Collaborative Approach to a Culturally Responsive Virtual Care Process Research Approach
Led by: Stacey Lovo, University of Saskatchewan
Impact Grant: Research for Evaluation Standards: Sustainability of community-based organizations providing supervised consumption options as a structural health intervention to address substance use harms
Led by: Barbara Fornssler, University of Saskatchewan
Impact Grant: Geographic information system real time mapping of community needles data to target harm reduction interventions in Regina, Saskatchewan: A community-based, mixed-method study
Led by: Andrew Eaton, University of Regina
Impact Grant: ‘Hope through Strength’: Applying an Adapted Social-Return on Investment Analysis to Explore and Communicate the Impacts of Sanctum 1.5, the First HIV Perinatal Care Home in Canada
Led by: Erika Penz, University of Saskatchewan
Co-funded by: Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research
Impact Grant: ‘Hope through Strength’: Applying an Adapted Social-Return on Investment Analysis to Explore and Communicate the Impacts of Sanctum 1.5, the First HIV Perinatal Care Home in Canada
Led by: Erika Penz, University of Saskatchewan
Co-funded by: Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research
Funded in 2023-24
Impact Grant: Bolstering the impact of the Child Trauma Research Centre: Collaborative, community-driven approaches to translating child and youth well-being research on trauma-integrated practices for service providers in Saskatchewan
Led by: Nathalie Reid, University of Regina
Co-funded by: Jim Pattison Children's Hospital Foundation
Impact Grant: Mitigating Substance Abuse: The Impact of a Culture-Integrated Virtual Intensive Substance Use Treatment Outpatient Program with Indigenous Communities (ViSTOP-I) in Rural Saskatchewan
Led by: AG Ahmed, University of Saskatchewan
