National Addictions Awareness Week (wip)
2015 National Addictions Awareness Week
Having week-long awareness campaigns is often a common occurrence in post-secondary institutions. This format works well if effectively organized. A recommendation would be to delegate tasks and assign responsibilities to a team, instead of attempting to organize, coordinate, and participate without any support. In 2015, the first National Addictions Awareness Week was not as successful as we had hoped. This was due to having a very short time frame, as well as it being our first week-long event without much experience at the College, and the inability (given the short time frame) to engage other key stakeholders (namely the marketing and promotions team) to make it a success.
In 2015, the poster was created in-house, not by the AC Hub marketing team, and the promotion was also done individually. This resulted in low participation rates. Below is a snapshot of the activities we participated in throughout the 2015 National Addictions Awareness Week.
November 15–21, 2015
Monday, November 16:
- Agency Fair: We invited Dave Smith Treatment Centre, a SMART Recovery representative, and Rideauwood Addictions and Family Services to participate in an agency fair. The fair was held in a multi-use space that students often use for discussions and studying.
- Movie Screening: In the same venue as the agency fair, we had a large screen TV that was playing The Anonymous People movie (2013) with chairs where students could sit and watch. Below is a description of the movie from their website:
Historically, intense social stigma and discrimination have kept recovery voices silent. Mass media depictions of people with addiction have filled this vacuum, reinforcing stereotypes about people with a preventable and treatable health condition. There are over 23 million Americans in recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. They, their family members, friends and allies are building a grass roots social justice movement. Courageous addiction recovery advocates have come out of the shadows and are organizing to end discrimination and the criminalization of addiction, and advance recovery-based solutions (Many Voices of Recovery, 2005).
- Harm Reduction Jeopardy: https://jeopardylabs.com/play/safe-halloween-partying The Child and Youth Care placement students, who were completing their placement on site at the Algonquin College Residence, had made a harm reduction jeopardy game from an online format. This game was geared towards Halloween Partying, however we used it again for this event. The game was the most attended part of the whole week. Using candy as prizes for answering questions, and having outgoing students engaging other students, proved very successful.
Tuesday, November 17:
- Community Health Project – Stress Management and Prescription Drug Use: The students from fourth Year Nursing and third Year Dental Program participated in an outreach booth on campus around Stress Management and Prescription drug use. See Appendix 1.0
Wednesday, November 18:
- Movie Night Smashed in Residence with debrief: Along with the coordination and support from Residence staff and placement students, we showed the movie Smashed (2012). This movie is about a married couple whose bond is built on a mutual love of alcohol, gets their relationship put to the test when the wife decides to get (Internet Movie Database, 1990 – 2017). Free popcorn was provided to the students and a discussion was facilitated by the Harm Reduction Consultant after the movie.
2016 National Addictions Awareness Week
Given the lessons learned from the previous year, we began to plan well in advance. We were successful again in having three placement students working in different areas across the College and also working with the AC Umbrella Project. All were Child and Youth Care students; one was located primarily in Residence, one was at the Mamidosewin Centre, and one was at Health Services. Upon our initial meeting with these students in September, we let them know that we would like them to plan and coordinate the NAAW on their own. This worked out really well, although more communication at the beginning would have improved efficiency, as sometimes expectations can differ. However, it was a very successful week and saw a huge number of students in attendance on all four days. We promoted this week through online social media posts, posters around campus, event listings on the Blackboard message board to all students, and informed members of the faculty via emails. The three placement students wrote a report after the completion of the NAAW events. See Appendix 1.0
November 14–20, 2016
Monday, November 14:
- Choose Your Ride:
- This is an annual event Algonquin College has been hosting for several years.
- This event includes an exhibit of a smashed car on the front commons (due to drunk driving) with the Ottawa Police Services, “beer goggles”, and a simulation suit for being high, plus educational booths.
- The AC Umbrella Project booth was present and included educational resources, as well as a “Blocky Stack” game from our RainyDaze app, but made with real cardboard blocks. With this game, participants placed the ways of consuming cannabis from least harmful to most harmful.
Tuesday, November 15
- Gord Garner, Recovery Day Ottawa Chair and Algonquin College Grad, Speaks About Living in Recovery:
- This was a very well attended event. Having a few professors mention this in class, and suggest bonus marks for participation, is a great way to increase attendance.
- Addictions/Mental Health Agency Fair: This occurred alongside the guest speaker event, in order to provide more information to students. Agencies included:
- Recovery Ally Campaign Booth
- Umbrella Project Booth with games and prizes
- AC Counselling Services
- Royal Concurrent Disorders
- Rideauwood Family Services
Wednesday, November 16
- Agency Fair for Behaviour Related Addictions: Agencies Included:
- OATC (Ontario Addiction Treatment Center)
- Centretown Community Centre
- Whitestone Sex Addiction Treatment
- AC Umbrella Project Booth with games and prizes
Thursday, November 17
- Residence Night:
- Free popcorn and cotton candy
- Agency Fair with games and prizes
- Drunk goggles and Mario Kart
- Recovery Ally selfies and Rainy Daze challenges
- AC Umbrella Project Booth with games and prizes