Carol Strike
Biographic Data
| ID | 87319 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Carol Strike |
| GIVEN NAMES | Carol |
| FAMILY NAME | Strike |
| SIGNATURE | STRIKE C |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-2716-3681 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 93 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 119 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 93 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Policy pathways and historical insights
Canada's evolving attitudes toward psychedelic interventions in palliative and end-of-life care reflect a departure from historically prohibitionist policies and an emerging recognition of their therapeutic potential for individuals facing end-of-life distress. This shift parallels international regulatory developments in jurisdictions such as the United States, Australia and parts of Europe, where cautious policy liberalization has signaled grow…
How have liberalized drug policies impacted international policing practices across urban and rural jurisdictions? A scoping review
Several major challenges remain prevalent in the facilitation of drug liberalization globally, including inadequate training of policy changes and/or enforcement procedures, lack of options for diversion, unintended increases in workload, and overall conflicting duties of police as authoritative figures providing support services. Despite the potential of policy reform to lessen structural inequalities in policing, racial inequalities remained ev…
Reduced risk of overdose among clients of a safer opioid supply program in Southwestern Ontario
Participants in a SOS program experienced significant reductions in non-fatal overdose during the 6 months following program initiation. SOS clients are a high-risk population with elevated overdose rates at baseline; these results support expanding safer supply programs as part of a comprehensive set of strategies to address the overdose crisis
Examining the Perspectives of Key Stakeholders on the Problems, Policies, and Politics Regarding Accessing Psychedelic Interventions to Alleviate End‐of‐Life Distress
Psychedelic interventions are not publicly available through Canada's healthcare system. Despite growing scientific evidence, public interest, and efforts to expand access to psychedelic therapies for end‐of‐life psychological suffering, Canadian policies remain restrictive. Efforts are underway to expand access, but knowledge gaps exist regarding the policy landscape in Canada. This study examines the barriers and facilitators to accessing thera…
A scoping review of variations among psychedelic interventions for psychological suffering associated with the end of life
Representations of Safer Opioid Supply Programs in Ontario Media Sources From 2021 to 2022
Toxic drug poisoning has claimed 53,821 lives since 2016 in Canada. After years of advocacy by people who use drugs and their supporters, the Canadian government funded a series of safer opioid supply (SOS) programs, where individuals who use unregulated opioids receive prescribed pharmaceutical opioids to minimize overdose risk. Twenty-six programs have been implemented in Canada since 2020, with media capturing varying positions on their implem…
Gendered Experiences of Ontological Insecurity Among Women Who Use Drugs and Experience Housing Insecurity
Introduction: Research has established that experiences of substance use and housing insecurity leads to violence, alienation, and health deterioration for women. However, no literature has assessed how the gendered nature of substance use and housing insecurity influence the ontological insecurity of women. This paper examines the relationship between ontological insecurity, substance use, and housing insecurity for women. We provide considerati…
Complex decision-making of people's use of opioid agonist therapy during pregnancy
Clinical guidelines strongly recommend that pregnant people with opioid use disorder be offered Opioid Agonist Therapy (OAT); however, access to and retention in substance use services are influenced by a multitude of factors. We conducted 25 semi-structured qualitative interviews with pregnant and recently pregnant people who used opioids or OAT before their pregnancy. Participants were recruited from various health and social services, through …
Analysis of hospital-based healthcare provision for people living with HIV who use drugs in Ontario, Canada
People living with HIV (PLWH) who use drugs are hospitalized at higher rates than the general population and report receiving poor care during hospitalization. The patient experience of PLWH during hospitalization is influenced by the clinical practice of healthcare providers (HPs). However, there is a gap in the literature that articulates the perspectives of HPs who deliver care to this population. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with…
Diverting attention away from novel approaches to preventing opioid overdose deaths
Substance use as a public health issue
The multiple makings of a supervised consumption service in a hospital setting
Safer Opioid Supply programs
Our findings suggest that the combination of safer supply, wrap-around support, and harm reduction within primary care settings can lead to increased healthcare engagement, HIV/HCV prevention, testing, and treatment uptake, reducing the burden of infectious diseases and overdose risk. SSPs have the potential to meaningfully reduce overdose rates, address the ongoing overdose crisis, and if scaled up, influence population-level outcomes
Accessing drug treatment programs in Atlantic Canada
People who use substances (PWUS) (e.g. inject substances) are at risk of many harms. Various services help reduce risks including drug treatment programs such as withdrawal management and opioid agonist treatment. Much of the research on PWUS’ experiences of treatment programs is set in large urban centers creating a knowledge gap of experiences in other places. Our study helps address this gap by exploring PWUS’ experiences of treatment programs…
‘I don't chase drugs as much anymore, and I'm not dead’
Decision-Making around Psychedelics for Depression and Anxiety
A Preliminary Assessment of Short-Term Social and Substance Use-Related Outcomes Among Clients of Integrated Safer Opioid Supply Pilot Programs in Toronto, Canada
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11469-023-01219-3
Considerations for the design of overdose education and naloxone distribution interventions
To create an naloxone distribution program in emergency departments, family practice and substance use treatment services, stigma is a central design consideration for training and naloxone kits. Design choices that reference the iconography, type, and form of materials associated with first aid have the potential to satisfy the need to de-stigmatize overdose response
I will play this tokenistic game, I just want something useful for my community’
Hiring peer researchers – individuals with lived experience of the phenomenon under study – is an increasingly popular practice. However, little research has examined experiences of peer research from the perspectives of peer researchers themselves. In this paper, we report on data from a participatory, qualitative research project focused on four intersecting communities often engaged in peer research: mental health service user/consumer/survivo…
Challenges of implementing safer supply programs in Canada during the Covid-19 pandemic
Safer supply pilot programs in Canada face multiple inner and outer implementation challenges. Given the potential role of safer supply programs in addressing the drug toxicity crisis in Canada and the possibility of future scale-up, services should be well-supported during their implementation phases. Refining service provision within safer supply programs based on the feedback and experiences of clients and program administrators is warranted, …
What is a public health approach to substance use? A qualitative systematic review and thematic synthesis
Spotting as a risk mitigation method
A scoping review of qualitative research on barriers and facilitators to the use of supervised consumption services
And if my goal is never to leave Casey House?”
The Box Has Become an Indispensable Part of My Life”
Community-based models of cannabis cultivation, distribution, and consumption—such as cannabis clubs—have been documented across Europe, North America, South America, and New Zealand since the 1990s. For the most part, these models have a history of operating outside existing legislation and regulations. Jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis have approached community-based models in opposite ways (eliminate vs. regulate). Canada legalizing c…
Navigating identity, territorial stigma, and HIV care services in Vancouver, Canada
Body Mapping as a Youth Sexual Health Intervention and Data Collection Tool
In this article, we describe and evaluate body mapping as (a) an arts-based activity within Fostering Open eXpression Among Youth (FOXY), an educational intervention targeting Northwest Territories (NWT) youth, and (b) a research data collection tool. Data included individual interviews with 41 female participants (aged 13-17 years) who attended FOXY body mapping workshops in six communities in 2013, field notes taken by the researcher during the…
Governing through community-based research
The "general public" and specific "communities" are increasingly being integrated into scientific decision-making. This shift emphasizes "scientific citizenship" and collaboration between interdisciplinary scientists, lay people, and multi-sector stakeholders (universities, healthcare, and government). The objective of this paper is to problematize these developments through a theoretically informed reading of empirical data that describes the co…
Visualizing harm reduction
Pushing the boundaries of outreach work
The Political Economy of Peer Research
Participatory research, or the practice of involving ‘peers’ with lived experience, has become popular in social work. Peer engagement is lauded for: ‘democratising’ the research process; providing ‘capacity building’ and facilitating opportunities to co-produce knowledge. Yet, these claims are rarely evaluated by empirical investigations into the socio-material work conditions of peer researchers. Here we present findings of a study that examine…
Across Serostatus
That's a double-edged sword”
Supervised consumption services (SCS) have been integrated into community health centres in Toronto. We draw on qualitative interviews and ethnographic observations to examine the implementation contexts of these SCS. Participants' perspectives on the integration of SCS within CHCs were mixed. Some participants identified the benefits of integrated SCS such as convenience and access to other health and social services. However, others identified …
When Health Care Workers Experience Mental Ill Health
Based on findings from an institutional ethnography in a large mental health organization, we explore how institutional forces shape the experiences of health care workers with mental health issues. We interviewed 20 employees about their personal experiences with mental health issues and work and 12 workplace stakeholders about their interactions with workers who had mental health issues. We also reviewed organizational texts related to health, …
Lesbian and queer mothers navigating the adoption system
Increasing numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and queer (LGBTQ) people are choosing to parent through adoption. The minimal research available, focused particularly on lesbian and gay adoptive parents, suggests they face significant barriers to adoption (including being held to a higher standard than heterosexual adoptive parents), homophobia from child welfare professionals, and limited social support post-adoption. The…
Safer Opioid Supply programs
Our findings suggest that the combination of safer supply, wrap-around support, and harm reduction within primary care settings can lead to increased healthcare engagement, HIV/HCV prevention, testing, and treatment uptake, reducing the burden of infectious diseases and overdose risk. SSPs have the potential to meaningfully reduce overdose rates, address the ongoing overdose crisis, and if scaled up, influence population-level outcomes
Social Ecological Factors of Sexual Subjectivity and Contraceptive Use and Access Among Young Women in the Northwest Territories, Canada
Adolescent women in the Northwest Territories (NWT), Canada, experience many sexual health challenges that are linked to a history of colonization and intergenerational effects of trauma. This study was informed by social ecological theory and explored how young women in the NWT develop sexual subjectivity within the context of contraception use and access during this time of decolonization. A total of 41 participants (aged 13 to 17 years) attend…
Self-perceived Health Among Canadian Opiate Users
Gendered Experiences of Ontological Insecurity Among Women Who Use Drugs and Experience Housing Insecurity
Introduction: Research has established that experiences of substance use and housing insecurity leads to violence, alienation, and health deterioration for women. However, no literature has assessed how the gendered nature of substance use and housing insecurity influence the ontological insecurity of women. This paper examines the relationship between ontological insecurity, substance use, and housing insecurity for women. We provide considerati…
The Box Has Become an Indispensable Part of My Life”
Community-based models of cannabis cultivation, distribution, and consumption—such as cannabis clubs—have been documented across Europe, North America, South America, and New Zealand since the 1990s. For the most part, these models have a history of operating outside existing legislation and regulations. Jurisdictions that have legalized cannabis have approached community-based models in opposite ways (eliminate vs. regulate). Canada legalizing c…
Nowhere to go
Innovating the Study of Context
Situational analysis has, as an emerging poststructuralist approach to grounded theory, recently grown in use across a diverse range of disciplines and substantive areas. In this paper, we consider the complementarity of Foucauldian governmentality as a theoretical framework for supporting and enriching situational analyses. Our work is based on the findings of a recent study, informed by situational analysis, in which we interviewed 27 HIV-posit…
Legal, geographic and organizational contexts that shape knowledge sharing in the hospital discharge process for people experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada
People experiencing homelessness use acute healthcare at higher rates than the general population, yet hospitals frequently discharge them to the streets or emergency shelters. Available literature on the hospital discharge process for people experiencing homelessness identifies knowledge sharing as an important and challenging part of the discharge process; however, it does little to explain what generates these challenges or what might support …
Distribution of Harm Reduction Kits in a Specialty HIV Hospital
Casey House, a small Toronto, Ontario, hospital for people living with HIV, implemented a harm-reduction kit distribution program in October 2014 to decrease harms from reuse of injection and smoking equipment among its clients—inpatients and outpatients. Program statistics (November 2014–June 2017) show an increase in the number of kits—injection and smoking—distributed each year. The program is perceived by staff to communicate openness and inc…
Needle Exchange Programs
Do Mock-Ups, Presentations of Evidence, and Q&as Help Participants Voice Their Opinions during Focus Groups and Interviews About Supervised Injection Services
Controversial facilities (e.g., supervised injection services (SIS), methadone clinics, and social housing) may require feasibility studies that asses their acceptability among community stakeholders before their implementation. However, controversies about these facilities may make stakeholders ambivalent or hesitant to express opinions about them because various sources of information disagree about their harms and benefits. We responded to thi…
Zoning out methadone and rising opioid-related deaths in Ontario
Increasing Prevalence of Cocaine as the Primary Detoxification Diagnosis among Admissions Presenting with Current Intravenous Drug Use
A Population Health Framework for Inner-City Mental Health
Needle Exchange Programs
Who Seeks Treatment for Cannabis-related Problems
Finding a place for needle exchange programs
Using the concepts of stigma, NIMBY and place, this paper examines the difficulties of finding a place for needle exchange programs (NEPs). Data were drawn from semi-structured interviews with NEP staff (Ontario, Canada) that focused on operational policies and routines. An iterative, inductive analytic process was used. NEPs, their staff and clients are not always welcome additions to organizations or communities because of concerns about the ‘d…
Self-perceived Health Among Canadian Opiate Users
Pushing the boundaries of outreach work
Syringe Acquisition, Peer Exchange and HIV Risk
To explore syringe access patterns and implications for HIV prevention programming, data from qualitative interviews (n=120) with injection drug users (IDU) and an evaluation of a satellite syringe-exchange program (SEP) were used. Three patterns were identified: IDUs who stockpile supplies to meet their own needs and to provide secondary distribution to friends and drug-using associates; IDUs who keep a several-days supply of syringes available,…
Peer networking for the reduction of drug-related harm
Adverse quality of life consequences of antiretroviral medications
To identify the effects of antiretroviral therapy on quality of life, we performed a qualitative content analysis of the Medical Outcomes Study-Human Immunodeficiency Virus (MOS-HIV) Health Survey. We used focus groups to elicit views about antiretroviral effects on quality of life from a purposive sample of treatment-experienced participants. Data were analysed using a grounded theory approach. We appraised the content of the MOS-HIV against the…
Improving health and social care relationships for harm reduction
A qualitative study on the initiation into injection drug use
Previous literature has identified several factors associated with the initiation of injection drug use; we add to this literature by focussing on the biological, psychosocial, socio-cultural and socio-structural processes that play a role in injection initiation. We identified three necessary processes. Firstly, one must already have developed a conception of drugs as creating desired effects. Secondly, initiation is born out of a social context…
Increasing Prevalence of Cocaine as the Primary Detoxification Diagnosis among Admissions Presenting with Current Intravenous Drug Use
Lesbian and queer mothers navigating the adoption system
Increasing numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and queer (LGBTQ) people are choosing to parent through adoption. The minimal research available, focused particularly on lesbian and gay adoptive parents, suggests they face significant barriers to adoption (including being held to a higher standard than heterosexual adoptive parents), homophobia from child welfare professionals, and limited social support post-adoption. The…
Demand for Substance Abuse Treatment Related to Use of Crystal Methamphetamine in Ontario
Guidelines for better harm reduction
Frequent food insecurity among injection drug users
Findings show that IDUs have frequent and variable experiences of food insecurity and these experiences are strongly correlated with sharing of injection-related equipment. Such behaviours may increase the likelihood of HIV and HCV transmission in this population. Addressing food-related needs among IDUs is urgently needed
What is low threshold methadone maintenance treatment
Design considerations for supervised consumption facilities (SCFs)
When Health Care Workers Experience Mental Ill Health
Based on findings from an institutional ethnography in a large mental health organization, we explore how institutional forces shape the experiences of health care workers with mental health issues. We interviewed 20 employees about their personal experiences with mental health issues and work and 12 workplace stakeholders about their interactions with workers who had mental health issues. We also reviewed organizational texts related to health, …
Emergency departments and street-involved youth
Homeless youth often have untreated health problems and experience barriers to care. Existing evidence suggests that homeless youth use emergency departments (EDs) more frequently than other youth. We hypothesized that street youth with access to primary care services would be less likely to utilize EDs for health care. Data were drawn from a study of housing security and changes to it over time among 150 youth (16–20 years) recruited from servic…
Transition to Injection Drug Use
Living with addiction
Governing through community-based research
The "general public" and specific "communities" are increasingly being integrated into scientific decision-making. This shift emphasizes "scientific citizenship" and collaboration between interdisciplinary scientists, lay people, and multi-sector stakeholders (universities, healthcare, and government). The objective of this paper is to problematize these developments through a theoretically informed reading of empirical data that describes the co…
Long Time Overdue
Today, in Canada, Aboriginal peoples continue to experience marginalization, over representation in the child welfare system, and a higher prevalence of poverty and substance misuse challenges. These experiences affect for Aboriginal women in particular because of the oppressive experiences of systemic racism and discrimination they face, including legislation such as the Indian Act and the Child and Family Services Act, which directly targets th…
Visualizing harm reduction
Medicine (70 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (51 works) · Political science (50 works) · Sociology (49 works) · Psychology (48 works) · Nursing (45 works) · Opioid Use Disorder Treatment (40 works) · Public health (37 works) · Public relations (32 works) · Business (31 works)