Webinar Overview

This webinar will explore the application of harm reduction in acute care, with a focus on realistic, patient-centered strategies that healthcare professionals can incorporate into everyday practice.

Through discussion and clinical examples, participants will consider how harm reduction can be integrated into care delivery and how healthcare providers can feel more comfortable in providing care for people who use substances.

Presenters

Grace Clarke, BNRN, MHA

Grace is a Provincial Harm Reduction Consultant with the NLCSU. Her background includes emergency psychiatric services and primary care nursing, as well as quality improvement and clinical leadership.

Drawing on both frontline experience and system leadership roles, she is passionate about harm reduction, person-centered care, and improving service delivery to better meet the needs of marginalized communities.

Jamila Rempel, MPH Student

Jamila is a white settler from Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg. She is a practicum student at NLCSU, completing her Master of Public Health degree at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

She also holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) from l’Université de Saint-Boniface and has worked as a public health nurse in downtown Winnipeg, walking alongside clients on their substance use journeys.

Learning Objectives

• To better understand harm reduction principles.
• To identify how stigma can impact patient care.
• To empower healthcare professionals to advocate for clients’ substance use needs.
• To understand how to apply harm reduction principles in acute care settings, even in the absence of official policies.

Target Audience

Healthcare professionals, service providers, and anyone interested in learning more about substance use health.

Eligibility Criteria:

o Nurse Practitioner (NP)

o Registered Nurse (RN), or

o Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)

Interested in participating in our study?

Please follow the QR code to review the letter of information and consent OR

contact Aprill Susin (Research Assistant) at 902-989-0116 or aprill.susin@queensu.ca

If you have questions regarding this study or the rights of research participants, please contact the Health Research Ethics Authority at 709-864-8871 or info@hrea.ca

This is a call for abstracts for PriFor 2026. We welcome submissions from researchers, practitioners, administrators, and decision makers. This meeting will provide a venue for professionals across a variety of disciplines who have an interest in primary healthcare to come together to share their research findings, ideas, and questions in a spirit of collaboration.

We view this forum as an opportunity for:

Researchers to present their work to practitioners, and to those who implement and make primary healthcare policy

Decision makers to become informed of the work being done in primary healthcare by researchers and practitioners

Practitioners to get a different view of health care—what’s in the future, broader determinants of health, new technologies, local research and program initiatives

Networking with professionals in different disciplines with like interests

The forum is meant to attract professionals working across the spectrum of primary healthcare including researchers, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, social workers, psychologists, dietitians, allied health professionals, decision/policy-makers, administrators, and individuals from any other discipline whose work and research might relate to primary healthcare.

If you would like to submit an abstract, please complete this form

See below for full list of categories and guidelines for abstract submissions.

Abstract Submission Categories

We are accepting abstracts for the following submission categories:

Posters (Research/Projects in Progress)

For abstracts submitted in this category, the research/evaluation to be presented must be in progress at the time of the Call for Abstracts submission deadline. If your work is in progress at the time of the submission deadline but you anticipate that it will be complete by the time of the meeting, you should still submit your abstract as a poster on research in progress.

Poster presentations will be given standalone time and presenters are asked to attend their posters during designated periods. There will be a poster board space of 4'×6' for each presenter.

Posters (Completed Work)

For abstracts submitted in this category, the work to be presented must be complete at the time of the Call for Abstracts submission deadline. Poster presentations will be given standalone time and presenters are asked to attend their posters during designated periods. There will be a poster board space of 4'×6' for each presenter.

Oral Presentations (Completed work)

For abstracts submitted in this category, the research/evaluation to be presented must be complete at the time of the Call for Abstracts submission deadline. Oral presentations will be presented in concurrent sessions. Oral presentations will be 15 minutes in length with 5 minutes for questions (20 minutes in total).

Oral Presentations (Program/Policy Description)

Abstracts submitted in this category will be presented orally during concurrent sessions. They should describe programs or policies relevant to primary healthcare. These can include descriptions of programs or policies that are currently in effect or those in planning phases.

These presentations will be 15 minutes in length with 5 minutes for questions (20 minutes in total).

Workshops

Workshops are 90-minute sessions scheduled concurrently with other oral sessions. They should be sessions intended to teach a research oriented skill or provide a forum for discussion about a relevant topic. Skills workshops or discussion workshops can be about research methods or types of research in general (quantitative, qualitative, participatory, program evaluation, statistical analysis techniques, grant writing, article writing, etc.), or other relevant topics for discussion and must involve planned audience participation.

Abstract Guidelines

Abstracts should be a maximum of 2300 characters in length. Please do not use any bullets or special characters in the abstract description. The abstract should contain the appropriate content for the applicable submission category as detailed below. Abstracts which do not adhere to these guidelines may be rejected.

Abstracts will be published in the final conference guide as submitted. Before submitting your abstract, check carefully to make sure it contains no spelling or typographical errors. Once you submit your abstract, it cannot be altered or resubmitted.

Abstract format for Posters and Oral Presentations (Research)

Context: The abstract should begin with a sentence or two summarizing the rationale for the project or program being presented.

Objective: State the primary objective(s) of the work (e.g. “To determine…”).

Design: State the basic design of the project (e.g., double-blind, cohort study, survey research, before/after, program/practice evaluation, grounded theory, qualitative description, secondary data analysis).

Participants: Explain the important eligibility criteria and key demographic characteristics of the participants. Provide sample size.

Intervention/Instrument (as applies): Describe the essential features of any intervention, key instrument, or database used to complete the study.

Outcome measures: State the primary outcome measures of the project.

Results: Provide the main results of the project. If the research or evaluation is in progress, state the anticipated results.

Conclusion: Report the project’s conclusions that are supported directly by the results as well as their potential implications (avoid speculation and overgeneralization). If the project is in progress, state the problem that is being posed.

Abstract format for Oral Presentations (Program/Policy Description)

Context: The abstract should begin with a sentence or two summarizing the rationale for the program/policy, providing the justification/need for the program or policy being presented.

Objective: State the primary objective(s)/goal(s) of the program or policy being described.

Target audience: Please describe the individuals the program or policy is meant to address.

Description: Describe the essential features of the program or policy.

Evaluation: If applicable, please describe how the program or policy will be evaluated for effectiveness.

Conclusion: Summarize the progress of the program or policy to date.

Abstract format for Workshops

Objective: State the objective(s) of the session. What will the participants learn?

Content: Please describe the content of the session.

Method: Describe the method of and extent of audience participation.

Prerequisite knowledge: Please indicate what and the level of prerequisite knowledge that is required for this session (if applicable).

The deadline for abstract submission is July 17, 2026