Addiction Practice Pod is a podcast for health care providers in British Columbia, about approaches to addiction and substance use care. Hosted by award-winning journalist David P. Ball and rotating clinical co-hosts, Addiction Practice Pod offers practical tips and guidance to health care providers seeking to improve their skills in addiction care.

Listen here, or wherever you listen to podcasts. You can also subscribe to be notified when future episodes get released.

This program is made possible through financial support from Doctors of BC, the BC Ministry of Health, and BC Ministry of Mental Health & Addictions.

 

David P. Ball, Co-host

David P. Ball is a multimedia journalist with 20 years of experience in print, radio, and digital news and investigative reporting.

He has won awards from the Jack Webster Foundation and Canadian Association of Journalists, and an honorable mention from the Mindset Award for workplace mental health reporting. He has written extensively about B.C.’s opioid emergency, mental health, and community-led drug policy advocacy.

Previously with the Star Vancouver, he co-hosts The Pulse show on Vancouver Co-op Radio focused on the Downtown Eastside. He has been published in the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post, The Tyee, and Agence France Presse.

Cited Media

The BC ECHO on Substance Use worked with Polly Leger (Season 1), Ren Bangert (Seasons 2 and 3), Katy Davis (Season 4) and others at Cited Media to develop Addiction Practice Pod.

Cited Media is an independent media company based in Toronto that specializes in knowledge mobilization and community-partnered journalism. Cited’s award-winning podcasts and web videos bring producers, scholars, journalists, and communities together to co-create groundbreaking original content that makes the expertise more accessible to the public, and the public more accessible to experts.

Rotating Clincial Co-hosts

Alongside recurring co-host David P. Ball, each episode is co-hosted by a rotating clinician. Clinical co-hosts, by order of appearance, include:

Season 1: Dr. Christy Sutherland, Dr. Robert Fox

Season 2: Dr. Robert Fox, Dr. Roland Engelbrecht, Dr. Rita McCracken, Christina Chant, Dr. Lindsay Mackay

Season 3: Dr. Marcus Greatheart, Christina Chant

Season 4: Dr. Nolan Hop Wo, Dr. Esther Tailfeathers, Dr. Robert Fox

Development Team

Development of the podcast draws on expertise across the BCCSU. Current contributors include:

  • Mara Balvers, Knowledge Translation Coordinator, Addiction Practice Pod
  • Dr. Heather Holroyd, Manager, BC ECHO on Substance Use & Addiction Practice Pod
  • Christina Chant, Director, Clinical Education and Activities
  • Dr. Paxton Bach, Co-medical Director
  • Josey Ross, Associate Director, Clinical Education and Activities
  • Kevin Hollett, Director of Communication
  • Nicole Malette, Evaluation Specialist
  • Kiran Parmar, Evaluation Coordinator
  • Alexis Rosenbaum, Project Coordinator, BC ECHO on Substance Use
  •  
    Previous contributors:

  • Sandra Smiley, Coordinator,  (Season 1)
  • Cameron Schwartz, Coordinator,  (Season 2)
  • Jordan Sang, Medical Writer (Season 3)
  • Marcia Mejia-Blanco, Manager (Season 4)
  • Mathew Fleury, Director (Season 4)
  • Andrea Thibodeau, Coordinator (Season 4)