Impact of Soul Space Offerings on Frontline Workers and Organizations

In Spring 2022, we received a generous grant from the Ottawa Community Foundation to evaluate the impact of Soul Space retreats on frontline workers and the organizations that they work for. In short, the impact was incredibly positive, but for more information, read the Impact Report. 

Research on Soul Space

Soul Space partnered with researchers at the University of Ottawa and Queen's University, and with street health workers at Ottawa Inner City Health to (1) understand the impact of offering holistic supports on the mental wellbeing of frontline street health workers at Ottawa Inner City Health, and (2) how to adapt Soul Space retreats within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This research was led by Dr. Wendy Gifford, Dr. J. Craig Phillips (University of Ottawa) and Dr. Joan Almost (Queen's University), and funded by a research grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Results from this study will be shared here, as they are available.
Holistic Supports for Street Nurses and Front-Line Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 
Street nurses who serve people experiencing homelessness and substance abuse are at risk of vicarious trauma and long-term mental health challenges. These risks have increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a concomitant spike in opioid overdoses and deaths in Canada, fewer available support services and worsening social challenges. This article describes innovative interdisciplinary and participatory research currently being undertaken to develop and evaluate a multifaceted support program to promote the holistic well-being of street nurses and their front-line colleagues.
Holistic Supports for Street Nurses and Front-Line Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic
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Resources for Frontline Street Health and Harm Reduction Workers

Mental Health Supports for Frontline Workers
  • Counselling Connect provides quick access to a free phone or video counselling session, available in English and French. You choose a convenient date and time. This service is for everyone: children, youth, adults and families in Ottawa and the surrounding area. There is no waiting list. You, your partner or your children may be concerned about sleep issues, anxiety and depression, bullying, behavioural issues, separation, relationships, grief and loss, drugs and alcohol, gender and sexuality, adjusting to life in Canada, problem gambling, isolation and loneliness. 
 
  • Prompt Care Clinic - The Prompt Care Clinic provides specialized mental health assessment and brief therapy for individuals with moderate illness. The Prompt Care Clinic is an outpatient service that provides quick access to specialized mental health care.  The clinic provides services virtually using secure video calls.
 
  • TEND Academy offers training and resources that address the natural consequences of working in a high-stress, trauma-exposed workplace. Topics covered include: empathic strain (also known as compassion fatigue), secondary trauma (also known as vicarious trauma), burnout, moral distress, organizational health, post-traumatic growth, navigating crisis and uncertainty, conflict, compassionate leadership. TEND offers access to several helpful and relevant resources, including podcasts, videos, articles and e-books relevant to healthcare professionals, first responders, counsellors, therapists and others whose job is to help others – whether that be through treatment, counselling, advocacy, volunteering, community outreach, or customer service. https://www.tendacademy.ca/resources/  

Mental Wellness Supports for Health Care Workers
  • If you are a health care worker and you feel like your mental wellness has been impacted due to COVID-19, help is available. There are resources you can access on your own, peer group support, and confidential support by phone or online with a mental health professional.
 
  • When frontline workers respond to the opioid epidemic/poisonings, they are experiencing tragic deaths. This is very different from death as a part of life, where it can be meaningful and dignified. It is important for workers to differentiate between death from overdoses and death as a part of life, and to map our cultural, spiritual, familial, family of choice’s and social networks’ responses to death. 
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  • In this video, Vikki Reynolds speaks with Sacha Médiné, Cori Kelly & Tara Taylor about practices of responding to the tragic deaths from the opioid catastrophe that are accurately described by Donald MacPherson, ED of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, as deaths by bad drug policy, thus they are political deaths.