Survey seeks input from those who help people that use drugs, alcohol

A new survey wants to hear the experiences of those who work with people who use substances to better understand the gaps in services for people.

The survey is from the Addictions Peer Advisory Committee, which is made up of representatives from the drug strategy groups in both Waterloo region and Guelph as well as Wellington County, the Canadian Mental Health Association Waterloo Wellington, the overdose prevention site in Guelph and ARCH Guelph, which provides HIV and AIDS resources and healthcare.

"Responses will be collected and analyzed to identify gaps and areas of need for those working in harm reduction/addictions," the committee said.

The survey is anonymous and includes questions about the person's work, whether they've experienced confusion or misunderstandings in their role, how confident they are in applying harm reduction principles in practice situations, and about their experiences of boundaries or privacy at work.

As well, part of the survey goes over compassion fatigue and secondary trauma people working in this field may experience.

Compassion fatigue is when a person has a reduced capacity to be empathetic. Secondary trauma symptoms are "nearly identical" to post-traumatic stress disorder, the survey says, but comes from working with or knowing someone who has been traumatized or is suffering.

A link to the survey can be found on the Waterloo Region Integrated Drugs Strategy website.