Bevel Up - Drugs, Users and Outreach Nursing
Bevel Up follows street nurses as they reach out to people working in the sex trade, and people who use drugs in the alleys and hotels of Vancouver’s inner city. Most importantly the nurses reflect on the attitudes they bring to their work—attitudes that can make or break their relationships with the people to whom they provide practical, non-judgemental health care on a daily basis. The Bevel Up Educational Playlists offer viewers a dynamic way to learn through more than four hours of additional footage, interviews and a Teachers Guide. The interactive resource gives students and instructors in the healthcare …
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Bevel Up follows street nurses as they reach out to people working in the sex trade, and people who use drugs in the alleys and hotels of Vancouver’s inner city. Most importantly the nurses reflect on the attitudes they bring to their work—attitudes that can make or break their relationships with the people to whom they provide practical, non-judgemental health care on a daily basis.
The Bevel Up Educational Playlists offer viewers a dynamic way to learn through more than four hours of additional footage, interviews and a Teachers Guide. The interactive resource gives students and instructors in the healthcare field access to the experiences of practitioners who work with people who use drugs in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
For more information, images, and clips, click here.
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directorNettie Wild
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editorMichael Brockington
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director of photographyKirk Tougas
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producerFiona GoldJuanita MaginleyBetsy CarsonNettie WildSvend-Erik Eriksen
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executive producerRina Fraticelli
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production managerBetsy Carson
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post supervisorBetsy Carson
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DVD designIan KirbyCaleb Bouchard
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original conceptCaroline Brunt
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production teamCaroline BruntFiona GoldLiz JamesElaine JonesJanine Stevenson
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location soundJeff HenschelJon RitchieKirk Tougas
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additional cinematographyRolf Cutts
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assistant editorNeil ThompsonErin Cummings
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production assistantCarlo Bodrogi
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transcriptionTrace SitterElaine Walkden
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post-production facilitiesFinale Editworks
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re-recording mixerDean GiammarcoEwan Deane
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sound editorJeff DavisChristine McLeod
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audio servicesDBC Sound Inc.
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legal servicesBrahm Martz
Bevel Up addresses many key issues, including:
- relational nursing and how to build trust with people who are marginalized because of drug use and addiction;
- social policies that drive illicit drug use and increase harm to people who use drugs;
- the social construction of addiction and the healthcare impact on people who use drugs;
- harm-reduction policies and programs, including needle exchange, opioid replacement therapy and supervised injection;
- approaches to addiction treatment in Canada as compared to other countries.
Suggestions for viewing
Here are some issues, questions and themes to reflect on while watching Bevel Up:
1. The relational skills nurses use
- Non-judgement, respect via choices and partnering, empathy, listening, humour, attending to relational power.
2. The social policies related to criminalization of drugs
- Forcing people to buy what they need in the black market, driving the “opioid crisis.”
3. The social construction of addiction
- What is addiction? What does it look like in people’s lives?
- Why are some drugs and substances legal and others illegal?
- Why are some “addictive-like” behaviours acceptable and others not?
- How do our attitudes and beliefs around addiction impact our relationships with people who use drugs?
4. Approaches to addiction treatment
- How do different countries approach addiction treatment (methadone, opioid replacement, low-barrier needle exchange, access to supervised injection, decriminalization and regulation)?
- How does addressing social determinants of health impact health (housing, poverty, social inclusion/stigma)?
