Community Health Services (52)

Beyond Kicks
Gary Toole 1972 28 min
In the early 1970s, a group of young volunteers, the Free Youth Clinic of Winnipeg, operated a "crisis bus" to rescue young people experiencing bad drug trips, usually from LSD. This film documents the activities of the volunteers: responding to and treating emergencies, whatever the hour, and obtaining further medical aid for their patients, if required.
Bevel Up: Chapter 1 - Opening
Nettie Wild 2019 5 min
The nurses meet Becky, give her a mouth pieces for a crack pipe, and chat about her pregnant daughter, Liz. Later, they meet Tracey in a hotel and discuss her upcoming test results.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 6 - Lee
Nettie Wild 2019 3 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Liz James inject Lee, a sex worker, with an antibiotic for syphilis. They also call Lee’s boyfriend and arrange to test him as well.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 5 - Street Youth
Nettie Wild 2019 5 min
Street nurse Elaine Jones hands out coloured condoms and encourages a young woman to get a pregnancy test. Elaine also meets a 16-year-old, new to the city and shooting heroin for the first time, and works to connect her with services.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 2 - Wheels & Barry
Nettie Wild 2019 6 min
“Wheels” drinks from his wheelchair in a park. Barry sells and injects drugs in the alleys. The outreach nurses establish relationships with both to encourage ongoing care.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 4 - Becky & Liz
Nettie Wild 2019 18 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Sarah Levine find a homeless mother and daughter under a truck. Becky is seriously ill from an injection-related infection and is withdrawing from heroin. Her daughter, Liz, is pregnant and using “rock” cocaine. The nurses struggle to find them housing for the night as they negotiate with Becky to get health care and address her need for drugs.

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Bevel Up: Chapter 7 - Long Tran
Nettie Wild 2019 2 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt and health care worker Tuan Luu meet a Vietnamese man who, like his father and grandfather, shoots heroin. Caroline teaches him how to inject safely—with the “bevel up.”

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Bevel Up - Drugs, Users and Outreach Nursing
Nettie Wild 2007 45 min
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.
Bevel Up: Chapter 8 - Conclusion
Nettie Wild 2019 2 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Liz James visit a recovering Becky and then head home.

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Citizens' Medicine

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Bonnie Sherr Klein 1970 30 min
In Montréal, the St. Jacques Citizens' Committee set up a community health clinic, aided by volunteer doctors, nurses, dentists and medical students. This film shows discussion, planning, and the clinic in operation, and presents its problems and advantages as seen both by medical workers and by local residents. Members of the Citizens' Committee participated in the making of the film, from original planning through filming, selecting and editing.
Doctors with Heart
Tahani Rached 1994 1 h 52 min
Tahani Rached’s powerful documentary enters the doors of an AIDS clinic in Montreal. We meet a group of dedicated doctors struggling to provide health care to their patients. This 1994 film explores legal and ethical problems surrounding HIV/AIDS and the struggle against fear, rumours and prejudice. It is still relevant today. In French with English subtitles.
Drawing from Life
Katerina Cizek 2008 30 min
This short documentary follows a group therapy workshop for people who have attempted to end their lives more than once. A hybrid of vérité and animation, the film is a candid portrayal of 12 people who together, for 20 weeks, take on their fears, their behaviours and their ghosts to move towards life and away from suicide.

Drawing from Life is a production of the National Film Board of Canada's Filmmaker-in-Residence project, produced with the creative participation of Seneca College of Applied Arts & Technology, Animation Arts Centre.
Eye Witness No. 4
1948 13 min
In this short newsreel clip from 1948, we see commercial fishing being practiced on a large scale north of The Pas, Manitoba; a doctor from Indian Health Service struggle against the odds to build a better future for Canada's first citizens; a winter carnival in Banff that attracts large crowds to watch ski experts and the crowning of the carnival queen, and; a colour sequence of Barbara Ann Scott, Olympic skating champion.
A Hospital Crucified
Renée Blanchar 2007 1 h 1 min
On March 2, 2004, Bernard Lord's Conservative government announces that the hospital in Caraquet, New Brunswick, will be converted to a community health centre. Considering the government's decision unfair, the people of the region rally to save the health care services to which they feel entitled. Despite their year-and-a-half-long struggle, the Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus is closed. In recording the chronology of the events, Renée Blanchar plunges into the heart of the action with an urgent need to speak out against injustice. The result is a very human film about solidarity. In French with English subtitles.
The Interventionists: Chronicles of a Mental Health Crisis Team

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Katerina Cizek 2006 31 min
Ellen is a mental health nurse. Brandon is a specially trained policeman. Together, they ride the streets of Toronto responding to 911 police calls involving “emotionally distressed persons.” Their mandate is not only to de-escalate crises, but to avoid unnecessary arrests and emergency room visits by providing appropriate referrals, services and resources within a patient's own community.
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy

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Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers 2021 2 h 4 min
Follow filmmaker Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers as she creates an intimate portrait of her community and the impacts of the substance use and overdose epidemic. Witness the change brought by community members with substance-use disorder, first responders and medical professionals as they strive for harm reduction in the Kainai First Nation.
Mozambique: Building a Future
Charles Konowal 1987 27 min
Discover a unique coop program in which students from Mozambique are taught dentistry techniques in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan in this short film from 1987. For many of us, dental health programs are something we take for granted, but in some regions of the world, they're considered a luxury. With this program, the Mozambique students are taught the skills they need to take back to their communities.
Rural Health
Ernest Reid 1946 18 min
This 1946 short film takes a look at the groundbreaking Health Units that were set up throughout the province of Manitoba to improve sanitary conditions and provide adequate medical services. The film illustrates how the first of these clinics, the Dauphin Health Unit, was organized, and shows members of its staff at work in the community.
Reflections on Practice: From Novice to Expert
Nettie Wild 2007 5 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Janine Stevenson, nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney, and nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg talk about the importance of learning and legitimizing nursing harm-reduction practices.

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*Explore the Teacher's Guide for this chapter.
Reflections on Practice: Therapeutic Communication
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Liz James explains how to work with someone who’s in an unsafe situation but doesn’t want help.

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Reflections on Practice: Supervised Injection
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg and nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney reflect on how the nurse incorporates teaching and health promotion while supporting safe injection.

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Reflections on Practice: Harm Reduction
Nettie Wild 2007 3 min
Nurse Elaine Jones and ethicist Paddy Rodney talk about the ethical questions involved in showing youth how to safely inject.

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Reflections on Practice: Dueling Agendas
Nettie Wild 2007 2 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt talks about what happens when her health-care agenda clashes with the needs of the person she is caring for.

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Reflections on Practice: Safety
Nettie Wild 2007 2 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt and nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg offer safety strategies for nurses working on the streets.

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Reflections on Practice: Insights
Nettie Wild 2007 3 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt talks about seeing past the drugs and connecting with the person. Street nurse Janine Stevenson reflects on coming from a place of curiosity rather than judgment.

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Reflections on Practice: Ethics & Practice
Nettie Wild 2007 4 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt and nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg reflect on nursing practice when working with people who carry and use illicit drugs. Nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney talks about respect for autonomy and power dynamics in the health-care relationship.

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Reflections on Practice: Therapeutic Communication
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt explains that listening is the first step in delivering effective health care to anyone who uses drugs.

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Reflections on Practice: Entrenchment
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Elaine Jones reflects on the lure of the streets and why youth use drugs.

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Reflections on Practice: Access to Health Care
Nettie Wild 2007 3 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt talks about the important role friendly, low-barrier health services play in increasing the chances that people using drugs will access timely health care. Nurse ethicist Paddy Rodney analyzes the impact of health-care providers who direct anger towards people who use drugs.

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Reflections on Practice: Pregnant Users
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt reflects on the challenges she faces when working with pregnant women who use drugs, and the importance of not judging the mother.

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Reflections on Practice: Relationship Building
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Janine Stevenson talks about how to show respect and build trust on the street.

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Reflections on Practice: Why Outreach?
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurses Caroline Brunt and Liz James talk about how providing health care on the street is like throwing people a lifeline.

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Reflections on Practice: Sex Work & Health
Nettie Wild 2007 3 min
Street nurse Liz James reminds us that sex workers who use drugs are “just people” with stories and experiences like everyone else. Liz explains that the key to creating a safe and open health-care relationship is to be compassionate while still asking frank and direct questions.

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Reflections on Practice: Access to Health Care
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Street nurse Caroline Brunt explores how detox or a supervised-injection site provide realistic first steps towards better health care.

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Reflections on Practice: People in Context
Nettie Wild 2007 1 min
Is the drug world scary? According to street nurse Caroline Brunt, understanding what drug(s) the person is using is important, but the ultimate goal is to connect, with the individuals using those drugs and providing the necessary health care that’s needed.

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Reflections on Practice: Boundaries
Nettie Wild 2007 2 min
Street nurse Janine Stevenson and nursing ethicist Paddy Rodney reflect on the complexities of boundaries when dealing with uncomfortable or unsafe situations.

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Topics: Peers & Natural Helpers
Nettie Wild 2007 9 min
Natural helper Tina and peer outreach worker Earle Crow talk about how they bridge the gap between the street community and the nurses.

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Topics: Nurses Who Use Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 4 min
Nursing-practice consultant Mary Adlersberg addresses addiction, intervention, and recovery within the nursing profession.

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Talking at Night
Eric Thiessen 2017 6 min
Saskatoon’s Mobile Crisis Centre provides 24/7 crisis resolution to people in distress. Its workers take calls from individuals in unpredictable and urgent situations, and respond in person when help is needed most. For almost 40 years, this non-profit organization has been answering to the needs of its small prairie city, confidentially addressing a wide range of issues, from suicide prevention to child abuse. As frontline responders in conjunction with police, social services and emergency healthcare providers, they are a vital part of a community that depends on them day and night. Director Eric Thiessen captures the behind-the-scenes experiences of the crisis centre’s staff, crafting a compelling observational portrait of a critically needed but largely unknown service.
Topics: Prohibition
Nettie Wild 2007 7 min
Lawyer Eugene Oscapella and addictions counsellor Mark Hayden talk about the legal, social, and ethical dilemmas of bringing health care to people who use drugs and decriminalizing drugs to improve health.

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Topics: Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Nettie Wild 2007 7 min
Pediatrician Christine Loock offers effective and non-judgemental communication strategies for nurses and healthcare providers who work with people affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

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Topics: Sex, Drugs & Gender
Nettie Wild 2007 9 min
Street nurse Paul Harris (Gay Outreach) and Sean, a transgender person who uses drugs, both reflect on the role that drugs play in the LGBT community.

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Topics: Pregnancy & Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 7 min
Sarah Payne is the senior practice leader at the Fir Square Combined Care Unit with the BC Women’s Hospital. She describes an open-door harm-reduction philosophy where she and her colleagues advocate for providing support to keep mothers who use drugs and their babies together; she also discusses the effects of illicit drugs on babies.

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Topics: Hospitals & Acute Care
Nettie Wild 2007 9 min
Emergency room nurse Jane McColl and ward nurse Joanne Simpson talk about how drugs are perceived by people who use them as a solution. The nurses also address the importance of practicing harm-reduction philosophy and approaches when providing care and services within an institution.

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Topics: Mental Health & Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 7 min
Mental-health counsellor Andrew Larcombe talks about the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder and using drugs to escape from difficult life circumstances. He also describes skills and strategies for developing therapeutic relationships and boundaries.

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Topics: Aboriginals & Drugs
Nettie Wild 2007 6 min
Chee Mamuk Program Manager Lucy Barney explains her theory of THE BRAID — how First Nations weave together culture and health to deal with drug use in their communities. She talks about why many First Nations people who use drugs do not access mainstream clinics.

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Topics: Street Nurses For Change
Nettie Wild 2007 6 min
What happens when advocating for best health-care practices is politically inconvenient? Street nurse Liz James talks about her role in Canada’s first underground needle exchange, and street nurse Fiona Gold describes how she supported North America’s first supervised-injection site; both nurses took risks, fought for change, and saved lives.

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Topics: Beyond the City
Nettie Wild 2007 10 min
Community health nurse Wendy Bradley (Yukon) and nurse educator Gayle Carriere (BC Interior Health Authority) describe drug use in rural areas and how they deal with the challenges of working in isolation and confronting stigma.

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White Fortress
Leslie McFarlane & Ronald Weyman 1949 10 min
This short 1949 documentary studies the impact Canada's National Health Program has had on people who might otherwise not had been able to obtain medical help.
Wanted! Doctor on Horseback

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Claire Helman 1996 48 min
When Dr. Mary Percy left civilized England for the wilds of northern Alberta in 1929, the clock seemed to turn back a century. Battle River Prairie had no roads, no electricity, no telegraph, no services. But blackflies were plentiful, and so was snow. Dr. Percy became the first and only doctor in Canada's last homesteading area. In winter, her eyelashes froze to her glasses. In summer, she sometimes had to be fished out of rivers when her horse lost its footing. English sidewalks were only a genteel memory. Mary Percy planned to spend only a year in Alberta--until romance, in the form of Frank Jackson, came striding through her examining room. Sixty-five years later, she is still there. Articulate, witty and outspoken at 90 years of age, the doctor is a gifted storyteller, recalling harrowing experiences as a practitioner of frontier medicine. With the nearest hospital days away, she often had to improvise--sometimes operating on her kitchen table. As a pioneer and community builder living "off the map," Dr. Mary Percy Jackson brings history to life. The film evokes the essence of the rugged times she has lived through. "People these days would call it a challenge," she says. "I thought it was hilarious."
We Regret to Inform You...
Eva Colmers & Heidi Janz 2015 11 min
In a check-box society that functions by dividing us into neatly-defined categories, where does someone with a strong mind and a weak body fit in? Dr. Heidi Janz - award-winning playwright, accomplished academic, and self-described ‘crip’ – has a curious problem. Despite her obvious physical limitations she is denied financial assistance from government programmes because of her “productive” mind. Following Heidi through her everyday life, with all its unique responsibilities, opportunities, and challenges, We Regret to Inform You... offers an unsentimental, and unapologetic, look at what it means to be both “disabled” and “productive”.
You Don't Back Down

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Don Owen 1965 27 min
This short documentary follows a young Canadian doctor serving in a local mission hospital in Nigeria. Stationed abroad under the Canadian University Service Overseas Plan, Dr. Alex McMahon and his schoolteacher wife encounter new challenges every day throughout their rewarding experience.

Community Health Services (52)

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