Webinar Description:

This module equips shelter and outreach staff with practical, evidence-informed techniques to apply harm reduction approaches in challenging and dynamic environments. Participants will learn strategies for de-escalation, balancing safety with autonomy, and navigating conflicting policies while maintaining a trauma- and violence-informed practice.

Learning Objectives

• Implement harm reduction strategies effectively in high-pressure or unpredictable settings.
• Use trauma-informed and person-centered communication to build trust and minimize harm during crises.
• Adapt harm reduction principles to work within restrictive or complex organizational policies.

 This course is offered in Term 1. 

Instructor: Corey Ranger

Instructor Bio: Corey Ranger started his nursing career facilitating a blood borne pathogens program in the Edmonton downtown core—since that time, Corey has worked on the Harm Reduction team in downtown Calgary, implemented and coordinated HIV programming in rural Alberta, as well as the take-home naloxone project and supervised consumption services in Medicine Hat. Corey is highly driven and passionate about ethical and evidence-based approaches to public health problems. He has a wealth of experience in both formal and informal education, having acted as instructor/coordinator for the practical nursing program at Medicine Hat College. He has been working in encampments and supervised care sites since before the pandemic began, and has responded to many critical emergencies and overdoses as well as training others to respond safely with care and compassion, using his practical nursing skills and passion for universal quality care for everyone. He has worked with housing providers in Victoria and the government to manage safe sites in temporary housing and hotels, and most recently, Corey has taken on a leadership role in the quest for universal safe supply, and is working with various organizations across the province to map out the process, advocate for change, and raise awareness around the issues.