MySafe Manitoba

Biography:

Dr. Em Pijl (PhD, RN) has been working with people who use substances for most of her career, as a frontline clinician and then as an instructor and researcher. At the University of Manitoba, her research explores a range of harm reducing interventions for people experiencing problematic substance use using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. She also seeks to understand the underlying values that predict a range of support for harm reduction interventions.

Node Funded Project (Sept 2025)

Title: Evaluating the Clinical and Psychosocial Merits of a Safer Drug Supply Using a Secure Vending Machine in Winnipeg, Manitoba

Principal Investigators: Jamil Mahmood (Main Street Project), Em Pijl (University of Manitoba)

Co-investigators/collaborators: Dr. Shelley Turner, Dr. Dr. Barry Lavallee, Jonny Mexico

Description:

A toxic drug supply is fueling an overdose crisis in Canada. Non-prescribed drugs that are purchased off the street are contaminated with strong opioids, such as fentanyl, and other toxic substances. This toxic supply is associated with high rates of overdoses and death. While the public health approach to the overdose crisis needs to be multifactorial and spans naloxone distribution, supervised consumption and
opioid agonist therapy, our project evaluates the merits of a new safer drug supply program. We will use Node funding to support an outcome and process evaluation of the Winnipeg safer supply program. This program was modeled after the MySafe Project developed by Dr. Mark Tyndall in Vancouver, BC. Through this project, enrolled participants can access a safer, regulated supply of opioids, avoid overdoses, and ensure that people who use drugs can access health and social services, and housing supports.

Our proposed program evaluation will assess both program outcomes and program fidelity through multiple quantitative and qualitative data sources. In the outcome evaluation component we will assess the effectiveness of the Winnipeg safer supply program. We will determine program efficacy according to critical public health outcomes including frequency of overdoses and overdose deaths, housing and employment status, physical and mental health, engagement with health and social support services, and rates of hospitalizations and criminal activity. In addition to 1:1 interviews with program participants, we will also assess their quality of life using the Measures of Human Flourishing.