Level Up: Taking action on opioid harms in the trades
June 4, 2024 | By HPAC Magazine
Digital tool supports trade workers through education and judgement-free links to substance-abuse assistance.
A new publicly accessible interactive digital tool called Level Up which provides education, links to support services, and other resources for communities at greater risk of substance-related harms is creating greater awareness of its tool to those in the trades, a cohort that represent a disproportionate number of substance use related deaths.
Level Up was designed by Toronto-based nonprofit organization Digital Public Square, whose research found that the risk of opioid harms in labour intensive industries stem from multiple factors including the physically demanding nature of the work, loneliness and financial incentives to work long hours.
One of the stated goals of the Level Up project is to overcome the stigma associated with substance use.
“We feel that Level Up’s most significant benefits for Canada’s labour-intensive industries include opportunities to raise awareness about potential substance harms, while providing access to resources and support services, privately, and without judgment,” says Effie Argyropoulos, Digital Public Square Level Up project lead, in a media release.
We would like to see Canadian employers incorporate Level Up into staff onboarding and health and safety programming.”
Currently, Level Up is available for free and the baseline version of the tool was developed with the support of Health Canada’s Substance Use and Addictions Program.
As Digital Public Square develops enhanced versions of the tool, with content more extensively tailored to specific industries, costs may be associated with the use of specialized versions.
Visit Level Up (levelupcanada.com) and share freely.
