TON

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Background

Goals

Activities

Membership

Background

The AIDS and Hepatitis C Programs of the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) provide funding, policy direction and monitoring for a number of harm reduction programs and services in Ontario. The goal of harm reduction programs are to reduce harms associated with drug use, in order to prevent the transmission of HIV, hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B (HBV), and facilitate access to care and treatment services for people who use drugs.  

The AIDS and Hepatitis C Programs fund the Harm Reduction Outreach Program and sixteen Hepatitis C Teams, all of which have harm reduction outreach workers who work directly with people who use drugs. The Harm Reduction Outreach Program was evaluated in 2012-2013, with one of the key recommendations being the need for more formalized support and sharing of resources amongst harm reduction outreach workers. As a result, MOHLTC staff recommended the establishment of The Outreach Network (TON), which is overseen by the Ontario Harm Reduction Network (OHRN).

Goals

The goals of TON include: 

1. To provide harm reduction outreach workers with formal opportunities to communicate with one another about current trends, challenges and successes; 

2. To increase collaboration and sharing of resources amongst harm reduction outreach workers; 

3. To enhance the skills and practices of harm reduction outreach workers. 

Activities

Sharing experiences and learning from other program sites to assist harm reduction outreach workers in not having to ‘re-create the wheel’. 

Primary activities of TON include: 

• Facilitating discussion around current trends and program challenges and successes; 
• Increasing networking among the harm reduction outreach workers; 
• Sharing of guidelines, protocols and policies to assist harm reduction outreach workers in enhancing their programs; and 
• Sharing of relevant and consistent harm reduction information with the harm reduction outreach workers that can be shared, where appropriate, with peers and people who use injection drugs. 

Membership

TON is comprised of harm reduction outreach workers, or people with similar titles, that are in MOHLTC funded positions as part of either the Harm Reduction Outreach Program or Hepatitis C Teams. These positions are typically housed at AIDS Service Organizations or Community Health Centres. 

Members are expected to:  

• Attend regular meetings (3 web meetings and one in-person conference per year); 
• Bring forward agenda items and topics for discussion;  
• Be actively engaged in discussions and the sharing of relevant information; 
• Review materials provided to them; and 
• Liaise between TON and their organization.