On April 14, 2016, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Perry Kendall declared a Public Health Emergency under the Public Health Act due to the unprecedented rise in deaths due to illicit drug toxic poisonings in British Columbia. While significant improvements in care have been made since this declaration, the number of people dying in BC has continued to rise. Improving access to appropriate and effective treatments and supports is critical to preventing harms before they happen.

To increase the efficacy of health care in addressing the needs of people who use substances, a shared understanding of how the current system is experienced by both health care providers and patients/people with lived and living experience (PWLLE) of substance use is required. In 2017 and 2023, we hosted journey mapping sessions to facilitate the sharing of these experiences from different perspectives of the health care system. These sessions aim to inform future collective actions that address challenges, improve systems of care and reduce the impacts of the illicit drug toxicity epidemic in BC.

Opioid Agonist Treatment in BC Journey Maps (2023)

In March 2023, we hosted a virtual journey mapping session to discuss the experiences of accessing and delivering opioid agonist treatment (OAT) in BC. This session helped inform the Learning About Opioid Use Disorder in Primary Care (LOUD in PC) Collaborative, an improvement initiative launched in 2023 that aims to improve the care of people who use substances by increasing accessibility to OAT across BC. The virtual session was attended by over 50 people, including PWLLE, care providers and organizational representatives from across BC’s health care system. Thank you to Sam Bradd with Drawing Change for his partnership in creating these maps

A final report summarizing the results from the session and high-resolution versions of the final maps are available for download.

Journey Mapping Report: An Exploration of Delivering and Receiving Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) in Primary Care in BC

A journey mapping session took place in March 2023 to explore how access to opioid agonist therapy (OAT) can be supported in in primary care settings in British Columbia. The session was hosted by Health Quality BC (HQBC) in collaboration with the BC Centre on Substance Use and many health system partners, with funding and…
Download Journey Mapping Report: An Exploration of Delivering and Receiving Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT) in Primary Care in BC
Map - Improving OAT Systems of Care Cover Thumbnail

Journey Map: Improving OAT Systems of Care

While participants across all mapping groups shared stories from their individual experiences and perspectives, what emerged from their collective stories were key attributes of systems of care that hinder and enable high-quality OAT. This map illustrates those attributes to support improvements in primary care from current to future states that are less rigid and more…
Download Journey Map: Improving OAT Systems of Care

Substance Use Journey Maps (2017)

In the summer and fall of 2017, we partnered with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions, the First Nations Health Authority and the General Practice Services Committee to host two journey mapping sessions to explore the current state of treatment options and support for people with substance use concerns in primary care settings – from both the health care provider and the patient/peer perspectives. Over 120 health care providers, patients and organizational representatives contributed to the creation of six distinct journey maps.

A final report summarizing the results from both sessions and high-resolution versions of the final maps are available for download.

Journey Maps – Primary Care Focus

Journey Maps – Indigenous Perspectives