Health, Harms and Homelessness: Issues and Innovative Interventions 
November 23, FREE!  No pre-registration required.
Details:  www.inthemindseye.ca

9:30 AM - 12:00 pm
Cambridge Self-Help Food Bank
54 Ainslie Street South, Cambridge

1:30 PM - 4:00 pm
Regional Council Chambers – 2nd Floor
150 Frederick Street, Kitchener

Homelessness often comes with a variety of health related issues. 
Substance use brings additional risk of harms. In both situations, people 
experience barriers to the quality and accessibility of health care 
enjoyed by other Canadians. What are the health issues? What do 
appropriate interventions look like?

Hamilton Public Health has two mobile vans that provide health, dental and 
other outreach services: an overview of this work will be provided. 
Highlights of the “shelter health network” that exists to provide seamless 
and more comprehensive health care for people without a fixed address will 
be shared.

This workshop also features specific primary care techniques employed by 
medical and outreach staff, including harm reduction practices used to 
prevent the spread of infections, reduce overdoses and improve health.

Worth Saving (U.S.A., 10 min)
This is a short documentary about drug users rescuing each other from 
overdose. Although often preventable with simple interventions, overdose 
is the leading cause of death for San Francisco’s 15,000 injecting drug 
users. Worth Saving explores a ground breaking public health program that 
saves lives by prescribing Narcan, an opiate antidote carried by 
paramedics, directly to drug users. The film follows the Drug Overdose 
Prevention and Education (DOPE) Project to needle syringe programs, 
residential hotels and police stations as they reach out to drug users, 
the often ignored casualties of the “War on Drugs”.

The Sleeping Giant (Thunder Bay, 2007 , 11 min ) 
A Day in the Life of a Needle Exchange Program

Suzanne Newmark, BScN, RN, is a Public Health Nurse with the STD/Sexual 
Health Program of the City of Hamilton. Suzanne primarily works with the 
VAN needle exchange program, STIs, addiction assessments, street and 
prescribed drug information, safer sex counselling, and harm reduction 
supplies.


Michael Parkinson
Coordinator, Community Engagement
Community Safety & Crime Prevention Council
99 Regina Street South, Main Floor
Waterloo, Ontario    N2J 2G6
CANADA

Phone:(519) 575-4757 ext. 5016
Email:  [log in to unmask]
www.inthemindseye.ca