Ease the Burden

Campaign webpage:
https://www.Canada.ca/easetheburden

Example Campaign Facebook post:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=400920468745388&set=a.254790070025096

Example Campaign Twitter post:

Men in trades are more impacted by substance use and addiction than others. Let’s #EndStigma and ensure #MenInTrades feel safe and supported to reach out for help if they are struggling: https://t.co/h46gfQl286 #MensHealthWeek pic.twitter.com/qwVebRMuFJ

— Health Canada and PHAC (@GovCanHealth) June 18, 2022

Related campaign news article:
https://canada.constructconnect.com/dcn/news/ohs/2021/08/opioid-crisis-prompts-creation-of-toolkit-for-trades

Related campaign toolkit:
https://www.ccsa.ca/substance-use-and-workplace-supporting-employers-and-employees-trades-toolkit

Promotional Twitter post for toolkit:

Work in a trade? CCSA and @GovCanHealth have resources to help employers and workers in reduce risks related to substances and substance use disorder. Learn more: https://t.co/MRlYkBbB8C pic.twitter.com/tjEwrxV0r6

— CCSA (@CCSACanada) August 10, 2021

Coinciding with #MensHealthWeek in June 2021, Health Canada had created a social media campaign dedicated to to reducing stigma and raising awareness around the opioid epidemic within the trades. Within these campaign social media posts, users were invited to visit the campaign's webpage to learn more and find resources, featuring the following sections:

• Men in trades and substance use
• Find help with substance use
• Learn about the harms of stigma
• Know the risks of opioids and how to save a life
• Chronic pain and substance use

Two months later, a related resource toolkit for dealing with substance use issues in the workplace titled, "Substance Use and the Workplace: Supporting Employers and Employees in the Trades", was released by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). Constructed with the help of Health Canada and the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, this toolkit contains information on several topics, including:

• Explaining stigma
• Problems with orgnaizational cultures and workplace risk factors
• Education resources
• Addressing substance use in the workpalce
• Policy and procedure guidance
• Employee resources (including getting help)
• Lists of related sources or organizations

Finally, a 30-second live-action video ad was released in September 2022 to raise awareness around the stigma of substance use and how it can be a barrier to recovery for men in the trades. Following a construction worker as he lofts around a cinderblock home (representing the stigma of his substance use), the narrator comments that his wife tries to take it away for him but he refuses, drawing parallels to how stigma can be a heavy burden and can create difficulty in asking for help for one's personal issues with addiction. Nonetheless, the narrator emphasises that individuals like him can get better with support, and that it takes strength to reach out for help (countering the idea that "needing help" is a sign of weakness).

Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety

Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA)

2021-06-01