There is a risk that we are going to be forcing people, or trying to force people, to engage in a service or a support that is legitimately not right for them.
Karen Urbanoski, a scientist at the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research in Victoria, told this to journalist Bethany Lindsay in a CBC feature piece on Byron Wood's human rights complaint over being required to attend Alcoholic's Anonymous by his former employer.
The BC Humanist Association has been following Wood's case for over two years, as he's sought changes to a system that required him to attend a faith-based treatment program after disclosing substance use issues to his employer.
This weekend's piece in CBC highlights a study by SFU PhD candidate Charlotte Ross. She found that Canadian nursing programs use a "one size fits all" approach based on the 12-Step model of AA to train nurses to treat substance use disorders.
Read the full story: 12-step troublemaker: One nurse's fight for choice in addiction treatment
Join our Secular Addictions Recovery campaign
Banner credit: Bethany Lindsay/CBC