On the 19th of March, the Evidence Exchange Network at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Canadian Housing First Network, and the Housing First Europe Hub hosted the International Housing First Webinar Series.

During the webinar, experts and practitioners from United States and Ireland discussed harm reduction and recovery from substance use problems among Housing First tenants. The presenters also discussed evidence-based overdose prevention practices, services, and policies that can support recovery and address problematic substance use in these settings.

The following topics were presented:

• Evidence-based overdose prevention practices in permanent supportive housing
  Co-Presenters: Dr. Kelly Doran and Lauren Velez
  Kelly and Lauren provided an overview of the Permanent Supportive Housing Overdose Prevention (POP) Study, a community-partnered study funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted in collaboration with the Corporation for Supportive Housing. The study evaluates the implementation of evidence-based overdose prevention practices in permanent supportive housing in New York. They also presented early findings on substance use in Housing First from surveys and focus groups with Housing First staff, tenants and leaders, as well as early lessons learned.
• Service User Accounts of Pursuing Recovery in Housing First
  Presenter: Dr. Branagh O’ Shaughnessy
  This presentation reviewed the initial findings from a longitudinal study of recovery from homelessness and substance use problems. The researchers interviewed homeless service users with lifetime experiences of substance use issues and homelessness to learn about their conceptions of recovery and their personal recovery journeys. Branagh discussed the findings in relation to Housing First programs, including service features that support recovery and policy approaches for addressing the overlapping issue of homelessness and problematic substance use.

Please find the recording below.