Meet Campus Health Students – Thomas, Becky and Lucas
Hello, this is Becky (MSW student) and Thomas (BSN student) and we are work study students with Campus Health, working on the Harm Reduction project. Over the summer we evaluated the harm reduction resources available to students at UBCO, held dialogues about substance use and harm reduction, and assisted with the development of harm reduction services for our campus. We are continuing to work with Campus Health to support the provision of harm reduction resources and services at UBCO over the fall and winter semesters. This fall we were joined by Lucas (BA psychology student) who will collaborate with us on the harm reduction project.
Thomas
I am very excited to be working on harm reduction. My view of harm reduction has developed through my experiences with loved ones, volunteering with the HOPE Narcan Team and past work on the Voice harm reduction project. The harm reduction project is essential to our campus as much of the problematic or high risk substance use among students, staff and faculty is not clearly visible. Therefore, there needs to be adequate supports to promote lower risk substance use and recovery for our campus population. As I work towards my nursing degree, I am gaining valuable experience working and researching on an interdisciplinary team.
Becky
Having worked in harm reduction previously and coming back to school it has been very exciting to translate my passion for harm reduction to our UBCO community. We know that there is a need for these services in the community at large but also within our campus community. It has been awesome to engage with our research team, dream up awesome ideas and try and implement them with the ultimate goal of having a safer, healthier campus where students can know that judgment free services are available to them.
Lucas
As the president of UBCO’s Canadian Student’s for Sensible Drug Policy chapter, I have become very passionate about health-based approaches to substance use. I believe that we need to shift away from punitive systems by replacing them with supportive ones. As such, I am very pleased to be working with Campus Health’s harm reduction team to ensure the safety and well-being of students. Through my work, I hope to create noticeable decreases in drug-related stigmas, greater access to life saving resources, and an atmosphere that connects rather than alienates individuals who use drugs.