BC ECHO on Substance Use
To learn more about the BC ECHO on Substance Use, please visit: www.bcechoonsubstanceuse.ca
To listen to episodes of the Addiction Practice Pod, the podcast of the BC ECHO on Substance Use, please visit: https://blubrry.com/addictionpracticepod/
Starting in 2018, I led the planning, implementation and evaluation of the first Western Canada substance use clinical community of practice, using the ECHO model.
The Extension for Community Health Outcomes (ECHO) model is an evidence-based, low-cost intervention, aimed at increasing skills, knowledge and capacity of primary care providers and their teams in a given specialty area of medicine. First initiated in New Mexico to improve hepatitis C care, the model has been adapted and implemented in a variety of countries and jurisdictions and used to enhance uptake of best practices across a number of health conditions.
The BC ECHO on Substance Use aims to empower and build capacity among primary care providers and their teams to treat patients with substance use disorders in their own communities. The program consists of a number of components, including bi-weekly virtual, interactive, case-based education sessions, an educational podcast aimed at providing practical tips and clinical pearls to support evidence-based substance use care provision, as well as monthly newsletters highlighting new provincial guidelines, regional services and spotlighting case presenters and participants.
The following are a few specific examples of my role in making this program a success:
Led successful grant applications, securing over $2M through Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addiction Program and Doctors of BC (over 3 years, each)
Recruited a highly effective team, consisting of clinical project coordinators for each arm of the program (opioid use disorder and alcohol use disorder), as well as clinical experts to form our expert hub team (pharmacist, addiction medicine specialists, registered nurses, and others)
Provided ongoing guidance regarding session structure, curriculum, content and ongoing case recommendation review, to ensure alignment with provincial guidelines and clinical best practices for OUD and AUD care
Initiated the Steering Committee in 2018 and strengthened relationships with regional clinical and operational addiction leaders; led efforts to promote the program and found innovative ways to engage busy health care providers through continuous quality improvement; explored ways to engage people with lived and living experience of substance use
Worked closely with communications colleagues to secure partnerships with CITED media (podcast development); created a podcast editorial board and engaged a range of stakeholders to determine structure and content of podcast episodes; reviewed and edited podcast scripts, show notes, and provided feedback for final editing of episodes.
Worked closely with an evaluator to determine key indicators to demonstrate program reach and impact, as well as those needed for report back to funders
Wrote and edited briefing notes for a number of government stakeholders in Ministry of Health and Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions
Wrote, edited and reviewed website copy to ensure message alignment with program goals and objectives, clarity of information and optimal tone for target audience
Early evaluation findings from the first year of program operation indicate that most participants found the ECHO sessions effective in meeting their learning needs and most planned on implementing evidence-based approaches into their practice. At the time of writing, over 1,000 registrants have been engaged with representation across a broad array of provider type (i.e. MD, NP, nurse, social worker, outreach worker, operational lead) and from each regional and provincial health authority.