UBC Foods & fair trade : social media content plan

UBC Food Services is responsible for the provision of food services in the majority of UBC’s cafeterias, residence dining halls, as well as providing catering services and running the upscale Sage Bistro. UBC Food Services has been an instrumental partner in UBC’s certification as a Fair Trade Campus. The designation from Fair Trade Canada requires the campus to commit to providing a certain number of fair trade choices across campus. Recently, UBC Food Services paired with UBC Social Economic Ecological Development Studies (SEEDS) and students from Dr. Alfred Hermida’s ‘Decoding Social Media’ course to generate a social media approach to promote fair trade products across the UBC campus. This approach had to suit the limited financial and human resources available at UBC Food Services, while providing the organization with high-value social media content. Initial objectives for the project involved suggestions for improving UBC Food Services’ social media presence and impact, increasing student awareness and understanding of fair trade options on campus, and creating a simple, transferable fair trade social media toolkit. The following document seeks to meet these goals. The first section, entitled “Social Media Strategies”, provides recommendations specifically tailored to the needs of UBC Food Services on social media. It articulates ways in which the organization can improve the impact of their Twitter account, @UBCFoods, establish a useful presence on Facebook, and potentially become engaged with Instagram as well. In the second section, a schedule of social media content is provided. The content plan includes sample content for all three relevant platforms, targeted at less than 10 hours of social media time available per week. It is our sincere hope that this document will be of assistance to UBC Food Services in the future. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”Business, Sauder School ofUnreviewedUndergraduat

Communicating risk in the context of methadone formulation changes: a qualitative study of overdose warning posters in Vancouver, Canada.

BACKGROUND: British Columbia, Canada’s provincial methadone program recently replaced their existing methadone formulation with a formulation ten times more concentrated. The transition raised concerns about heightened risk of accidental overdose, leading two organizations to disseminate methadone overdose warning posters during the transitional period. This study explores people who use drugs’ (PWUD) perceptions of these warning posters. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with thirty-four PWUD enrolled in methadone maintenance treatment in Vancouver. Participants were recruited from ongoing cohort studies of drug-using individuals. Interview transcripts were analyzed thematically, focusing on participants’ perceptions of the warning posters and potential impacts on drug-related risks. RESULTS: Overdose warning posters constituted a key source of information about the methadone formulation change, but did not provide adequate information for all participants. Participants articulated a preference for descriptive language, focusing on changes in concentration rather than “strength”, and universal hazard symbols to effectively communicate overdose risks. CONCLUSION: Participants indicated that warnings employing descriptive language more effectively communicated risk of methadone overdose. Future overdose warnings for drug-using populations must provide adequate information for the intended audience, and be communicated to PWUD through multiple channels

Willingness to Engage in Peer-Delivered HIV Voluntary Counselling and Testing Among People Who Inject Drugs in a Canadian Setting

Background People who inject drugs (IDU) face unique systemic, social and individual barriers to conventional HIV voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) programs. Peer-delivered approaches represent a possible alternative to improve rates of testing among this population. Methods Cross-sectional data from a prospective cohort of IDU in Vancouver, Canada were collected between December 2011 and May 2012. Bivariate statistics and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify the prevalence of and factors associated with willingness to receive peer-delivered VCT. Results Of 600 individuals, 51.5% indicated willingness to receive peer-delivered pretest counselling, 40.7% to receive peer-delivered rapid HIV testing, and 42.8% to receive peer-delivered post-test counselling. Multivariate analyses found significant positive associations between willingness for pre-test counselling and having used Vancouver’s supervised injection facility, Insite, or being a member of VANDU (a local drug user organization) (all p < 0.05). Daily crack smoking and having used Insite were positively associated with willingness to receive peer-delivered HIV testing (p < 0.05). Willingness to receive peer-delivered post-test counselling was positively associated with male gender, daily crack smoking, having used Insite, and being a member of VANDU (p<0.05). Conclusion While not universally acceptable, peer-delivered VCT approaches may improve access to HIV testing among IDU.Medicine, Faculty ofOther UBCNon UBCMedicine, Department ofReviewedFacultyResearcherGraduat

Willingness to engage in peer-delivered HIV voluntary counselling and testing among people who inject drugs in a Canadian setting

BACKGROUND: People who inject drugs (IDU) face unique systemic, social and individual barriers to conventional HIV voluntary counselling and testing (VCT) programs. Peer-delivered approaches represent a possible alternative to improve rates of testing among this population. METHODS: Cross-sectional data from a prospective cohort of IDU in Vancouver, Canada were collected between December 2011 and May 2012. Bivariate statistics and multivariate logistic regression were used to identify the prevalence of and factors associated with willingness to receive peer-delivered VCT. RESULTS: Of 600 individuals, 51.5% indicated willingness to receive peer-delivered pretest counselling, 40.7% to receive peer-delivered rapid HIV testing, and 42.8% to receive peer-delivered post-test counselling. Multivariate analyses found significant positive associations between willingness for pre-test counselling and having used Vancouver’s supervised injection facility, Insite, or being a member of VANDU (a local drug user organization) (all p < 0.05). Daily crack smoking and having used Insite were positively associated with willingness to receive peer-delivered HIV testing (p < 0.05). Willingness to receive peer-delivered post-test counselling was positively associated with male gender, daily crack smoking, having used Insite, and being a member of VANDU (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: While not universally acceptable, peer-delivered VCT approaches may improve access to HIV testing among IDU