Women’s and girls’ substance use is an important health, economic and social issue in Canada. However, most books about alcohol and other drug use do not address the unique needs and circumstances of this population.

Highs & Lows draws on the latest theory and research to offer strategies for improving practice and developing policy to support women with substance use problems. This unique book includes contributions from nearly 100 experts on women’s substance use, including psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, clinical therapists, health promoters, academics, alternative health care providers, women’s health advocates — and women who have personally been affected by substance use.

The book includes in-depth chapters on:

• the interconnection of trauma, mental health and substance use problems for women
• pregnancy, mothering and substance use
• innovative treatment, harm reduction and prevention programs designed with women’s needs in mind
• challenges and opportunities for improved research, treatment and policy development.

Highs & Lows also includes:

• snapshots of the latest in women-centred research, treatment and policy innovations
• statistics on women’s substance use in Canada
• women’s personal narratives of their experiences of substance use problems.

Highs & Lows is a valuable resource for program developers and administrators, researchers and policy makers, therapists and counsellors, and educators and students. It is an ideal choice as a course text on this topic.

Highs & Lows was developed through a partnership between the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Nancy Poole is a Research Associate and research network developer with the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women's Health and a doctoral student with the University of South Australia studying virtual knowledge translation on women's health and substance use. She has a CIHR fellowship with the IMPART program, a training program in Gender, Women and Addictions. Nancy is engaged on several research teams undertaking policy relevant research related to women's substance use, and is well known for collaborations on addictions policy, service design and research with governments and organizations across Canada. She is an editor, with Dr. Lorraine Greaves, of Highs and Lows: Current Canadian Perspectives on Women and Substance Use published by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Ontario. Nancy recently completed a Master's degree in Distributed Learning at Royal Roads University and is currently pursuing doctoral studies.

Nancy Poole's profile page

Lorraine Greaves is the Executive Director of the Health System Strategy Division in the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care in Ontario. She was formerly Executive Director of the British Columbia Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health (BCCEWH) and the Director, Women's Health Research Development at BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre. She is also a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at UBC. Her research focuses on girls` and women's addictions and substance use with a particular interest in substance use during pregnancy and tobacco use among girls and women. As a founding Co-Leader of the WHRN, she lead the development of the surveillance node and produced a gendered data directory tool which will improve access to data sources for researchers interested in advancing women's health in BC.

Lorraine Greaves' profile page