Had Al Fowler known more about his rights before enrolling in British Columbia鈥檚 methadone treatment program in 2010, he may have avoided what he describes as a two-year 鈥渉orror-show鈥� while living in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside.
Fowler says the stigma and exploitation he experienced is part of what inspired him to co-author a handbook on how to navigate the province鈥檚 opioid-substitution therapy program.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important that we get this out from our point of view, how we see it, how it is to us, because that鈥檚 how the guy who鈥檚 going in to the clinic is going to see it,鈥� said Fowler, president of the B.C. Association for People on Methadone, who has been in the program for seven years.
鈥淧art of this booklet was to help people navigate that, to let them know that they have rights, because it鈥檚 just another medication 鈥� and we shouldn鈥檛 be penalized for that.鈥�
The 43-page booklet, titled Patients Helping Patients Understand Opioid-Substitution Therapy, was co-ordinated by the Centre for Addictions Research of B.C and funded by the provincial Health Ministry. It is scheduled for release next week but is available on the centre鈥檚 website.
Annual meetings that were started by the government in 2013 led to the creation of the handbook, which taps into the experiences of the seven people who wrote the guide.
Co-author Garth Mullins said the team wanted to ensure the handbook had a 鈥渟treet-level perspective鈥� and provided the 鈥渦nvarnished truth鈥� behind the program.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not trying to give people a sales pitch,鈥� Mullins said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 trying to give people the straight goods on what it is like to try and get yourself out of the hole of addiction.鈥�
Marginalized people are often left on their own to figure out a 鈥渧ery cumbersome and bureaucratic鈥� process, Mullins added.
The booklet comes with a glossary of terms used in treatment. Sections of it also deal with taking methadone during pregnancy, travelling while on treatment and the challenge of getting medication while in jail or in hospital.
Dan Reist, an assistant director at the addictions research centre, said the organization provided a support role and left most of the content creation to the authors.
It鈥檚 important that doctors, pharmacists and policy-makers embrace the handbook so it reaches as many people as possible, Reist said.
鈥淲e need the system to see this as a resource that has value,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important that we not poke them 芒鈧� but at the same time hold their feet to the fire.鈥�
The handbook cost about $15,000 to produce, which included paying the co-authors for their time but does not cover its distribution to places like pharmacies and doctors鈥� offices, he added.
He believes the handbook is one of the world鈥檚 first. The only similar one Reist could find was in New Zealand.
Reist and others involved in the project saw it as part of a larger push to include patients鈥� voices in the development of programs and policies.
鈥淗ealth is not about experts fixing broken people,鈥� he said.
Bill Nelles, a retired addiction counsellor based on Vancouver Island, said the handbook attempts to show the provincial government that people in drug-recovery programs want to be involved in matters that concern them.
鈥淵ou may have heard, 鈥楴othing about us without us,鈥� 鈥� said Nelles, who has been on a methadone program for 40 years. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not there yet.鈥�
Mullins said those in methadone recovery dream of the day they help inform policy and budgetary decisions.
鈥淚鈥檓 tired of seeing people die from bad drug policy, as much as from bad drugs,鈥� he said. 鈥淭oday we鈥檙e writing the manual. Tomorrow I hope we鈥檙e writing the legislation.鈥�
Geordon Omand, The Canadian Press
