The continuum of care for OUD includes care planning and services oriented towards recovery and self-defined wellness. This guideline suggests adoption of the United States-based SAMHSA’s Working Definition of Recovery75 as an overarching framework and for the purpose of developing patient-centred, recovery-oriented treatment plans: “A process of change through which individuals improve their health and wellness, live a self-directed life, and strive to reach their full potential.”

Those seeking recovery and wellness require understanding, support, and referral to appropriate services to achieve their goals, which may include abstinence for some patients, while for others, goals may involve reducing use or safer use. In some cases, patient-identified goals may not be directly related to opioid use, such as improved health and wellness; having a safe and stable place to live; finding a sense of purpose through volunteer, educational, or employment activities; strengthening relationships with family and friends; or building social support networks.75 Recovery and self-defined wellness-oriented care strives to respect the choices, autonomy, dignity, and self-determination of individuals in defining their personal goals and pathway and recognizes that there are multiple pathways.76 Acknowledging and validating how individuals choose to define their recovery and wellness is an important component of this care. Recovery and wellness-oriented care emphasizes holistic, client-centered, strengths-based approaches, and can encompass a spectrum of abstinence-oriented and harm reduction management strategies.76 

There is a diversity of recovery-oriented services in BC that can provide additional care, support, and guidance to individuals and families affected by OUD. It is recognized, however, that recovery-oriented services and the health care system have traditionally operated independently of one another, and there is a need to improve collaboration and communication between multiple service providers and programs that may be involved in an individual’s care. This guideline emphasizes the importance of establishing functioning referral networks and streamlined communication pathways between these two sectors as part of a broader provincial strategy to build an integrated continuum of substance use care in BC.