MAPs making a difference during COVID-19

A photo of a woman sitting in the trunk of a car, holding a six pack of beer. There is a bin of PPE, a sharps container and ensures beside her. — Nursing PhD candidate Meaghan Brown poses with some of the typical supplies she would take to visit clients as part of her work as a MAP nurse.

CISUR Scientist Dr. Bernie Pauly and PhD student Meaghan Brown are featured in two UVic articles about their work on the Canadian Managed Alcohol Program Study (CMAPS).

Bernie offers an overview of how Managed Alcohol Program (MAPs) are evolving during COVID-19, and how CISUR's work is making a difference.

“MAPs formed during COVID-19 look different than the ‘traditional’ model in that they can be outreach-based, where clients are seen in the community and provided with supports and alcohol where they live,” explains Pauly. “This aligns with principles of Housing First but is a new take on the residential model, which was more common before COVID-19.”

This profile of Meaghan looks at her work as a MAP nurse before coming to UVic, her research as part of CMAPS, and how she was able to come full circle and spend time working as a MAP nurse again.

“I found this population was such a special population to work with,” says Brown, now a nursing PhD candidate at UVic. “Often people in the programs have had really remarkable lives but also lot of challenges. They are such resilient people who can have the most medical and health complexities and the most barriers to accessing harm-reduction services, but are so full of character and life.”

You can read subsequent coverage in the Tyee, which was syndicated in other publication.