Capstone Project Proposal

Name of student: Elise Domingo

Date: March 4, 2022
Teacher: Ms. Lara Lacroix
Capstone strand I have chosen is Service Strand
Proposed title for my project: BC Opioid Stigma

What is your inquiry question that interests you for further research? It should be a question that
connects with a purpose, passion or personalized area of interest for you. This is a question that
you cannot just google an answer for. Please see examples from your Capstone booklet.
My inquiry question is:

How can I help aid the opioid crisis in BC?

Rationale/context: Detail your reasons for choosing this inquiry question. Explain WHY you
are choosing to investigate this topic as a major area of focus. How does this area of inquiry
connect to your passion(s), purpose? Why is it of personal interest to you?

I want to investigate this topic because I’m greatly interested in Psychology, and I want to
understand how it has affected our local community in the people that are around us as
opposed to isolating the crisis in DTES.

Background: What background knowledge/connections/prior learning do you have in this area

of inquiry?

• BC, North America has an opioid addiction crisis where many Canadians and
Americans overdose
• It’s a health emergency in BC
• It affects every community, but especially DTES
• Media depiction of addiction: romanticized?
Career connections: What is your intended career area at this point in time? What connections
does this inquiry question have to your life, academic and/ or career goals?

I am considering going into teaching or counselling. My inquiry question connects to my

academics and career goals because I’m currently studying IB Psychology in order to not only
prepare for university, but because I want to understand why people turn to substances and
how it affects those around them.

Interdisciplinary and core competencies connections: What subject areas and core
competencies will be connected with your project? Outline and explain the connections.

1. Personal Awareness & Responsibility: Self-Determination: I need to be responsible,

self motivated, and advocate for myself because my Capstone is emotionally taxing
2. Social Responsibility: Contributing to the community and caring for the environment:
I need to be aware of my community and environment and work independently and
collaboratively for the benefit of others because my Capstone will affect people from
all walks of life as it’s a sensitive issue
3. Critical Thinking: Develop and Design: I understand the purpose for my work and
consider my audience as I need to be focused on creating an impactful PSA project that
will help create empathy and contribute to de-stigmatization of addiction and its causes
(ex. mental health)
4. Creative Thinking: Developing Ideas: I need to persevere, and understand that failure
can be productive because my Capstone isn’t an easy task or area to research due to the
sensitivity
5. Communication: Connect and engage with others: I need to listen, learn to contribute
meaningfully to discussion and debate, consider different perspectives, and build
consensus for my Capstone because I will come across perspectives that are new to
me/may challenge me, so I need to learn not only how to share a PSA, but also listen to
others
6. Personal & Cultural Identity: Relationships and Cultural Identity: I need to
understand that culture is a broad concept that includes things like my geographic
region, nationality, sex/gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, language, and religion because
sociocultural, biological, and cognitive influences impact why and how people turn to
drugs

Capstone Presentation medium: select one or more project mediums you wish to use to present
your project. Outline and give details about how you will present your project once completed.
You may use a combination of mediums.
o Electronic portfolio: Prezi or PPT
o Physical portfolio
o Website
o imovie presentation
o YouTube channel
 I will present my project via website and an iMovie presentation. I want to use a website to
demonstrate and share what I have learned through surveying student/staff, surveying a
paramedic, and resources/knowledge my audience should know. My iMovie presentation
would be documentary-style, showing an in-depth PSA to help build more empathy towards
addiction to help de-stigmatize it

Description of my Capstone project. Specific Project Details of the Capstone Project: what will
you research, create, study, produce, solve, investigate? What product will be produced at the
end of this project for evaluation. Write a one-page description outlining your proposal.

Research
I will research causes for addiction so that I have a better background on how certain
causes lead to one becoming dependent on opioids. For example, I know that mental health
plays a large role in substance use. I want to expand my knowledge deeper: to do this, I want
to use several mediums for research including scholarly articles, news articles, and interviews
with those involved in mental health services, including emergency services (ex. paramedics)
who actively go to ODs to treat patients.
Create
I plan to create an informational website to show/link research for my audience. I want
to post the survey interviews I would be taking. I want to create an iMovie in a documentary-
style presentation. It would be a maximum of 10 minutes. This would include news clips,
voiceovers of student/staff/paramedic experiences, and resources for getting help. I want to
create a tone of sympathetic in the documentary so that I can present the darkness of the
addiction and its effects on an individual, but also not have it be so heavy and dark that it
creates feelings of hopelessness which don’t inspire the audience to challenge their personal
biases about opioid addiction.
Produce
I’m already able to make a website on my own. In terms of the documentary, I have
experience in making videos through Video Production 9/10 in Grade 9 and in my spare time.
I will come up with questions to ask the participants in a Microsoft Form survey. These will be
aimed at giving the participants the chance to share how the opioid crisis has affected them,
someone they know, and what they wish to see change. Using the same base of questions, I
also plan on interviewing/surveying a paramedic and seeing how THEY are affected by the
opioid crisis (ex. they go to ODs to treat patients).
Solve
My main objective is to make a PSA to contribute to de-stigmatization. I want to
challenge and inform my audience to help build more empathy and humanity around people
struggling with opioid addiction. While my Capstone alone won’t 100% solve the opioid
crisis, I hope to contribute to solving the stigmatization surrounding the topic. My hope is that
people takeaway information from my Capstone and pass it on to help spread de-
stigmatization of the opioid crisis in BC.
Investigate
 In addition, I would also like to investigate media influence on opioid addiction… I
feel it adds to the culture surrounding the opinions around addiction. This is because we tend
to form opinions, thoughts, and ideas on certain topics based on our personal experiences.
Being surrounded by social media, “breaking news” headlines, and streaming services means
that we consume varying forms of media. I want to understand how deep media consumption
adds to the stigmatization to opioid addiction.
End Product for Evaluation
A PSA in the forms of a website and iMovie documentary. If possible, I’d like to involve my
audience as well during my exit interview to be an active and engaged member in discussion
during my presentation so that it’s not just me speaking the WHOLE time.

Resources/ Technology/Skills: Make an assessment of the resources, technology and skills you
will need to be able to complete this project. What is your plan to be able to access/learn all of
the resources necessary to achieve completion of this project? Detail your plans.

I can make a website and use iMovie. I have experience in video production through being
enrolled in the course in Grade 9 and I make videos for leisure for my cheer team. I need to
ask trusted friends to help with voiceovers. I need to use Microsoft Forms for my survey
interviews. I would need help from staff (Ms. Lacroix, counselling) to help share the Form
around. I can also use social media to share the Form.

Mentors/Community Connections: What types of mentor(s)/community connections will you

need to help you complete your capstone project? How will your mentor(s) help you? What is
your plan to access the mentorship/community connections necessary for this project?

Mentors I’m considering includes the counselling department and community agencies who
work with addiction/mental health services, including emergency services possibly. I would
need advice and guidance on ethics, reliable information about addiction, and personal
experiences they consent to sharing with the public. I plan on emailing my mentors, and I have
connections to some people who work in emergency services.

Project limitations: What are some project limitations and potential obstacles that you foresee
that might affect progress with your Capstone Project?

• Ethics
• COVID-19 procedures; what I can do in-person
• Physical, mental, emotional safety for everyone involved
• Stigmatization of addiction and related areas such as mental health,
poverty/homelessness
• Bias/judgement: personal, societal
Other considerations: List and detail any other related information/ considerations about your
project that you feel should be included in your project proposal.

• Major ethical considerations

• Content is dark/heavy, must regulate intake for myself

References:

Attach a REFERENCE LIST. Your list should be written using correct APA formatting. An
example is provided on page 21 of your Capstone booklet.

References

Alam, H. (2022, February 9). More people died from illicit toxic drugs in 2021 in B.C. than in

any other year. Global News. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from

https://globalnews.ca/news/8606482/bc-overdose-deaths-

2021/#:~:text=Lisa%20Lapointe%20said%202%2C224%20suspected,rise%20over%20t

he%20previous%20year

First Nations Health Authority. (2021, May 27). First Nations toxic drug deaths doubled

during the pandemic in 2020. First Nations Toxic Drug Deaths Doubled During the

Pandemic in 2020. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from https://www.fnha.ca/about/news-and-

events/news/first-nations-toxic-drug-deaths-doubled-during-the-pandemic-in-2020

Gladstone, E. J., Smolina, K., Weymann, D., Rutherford, K., & Morgan, S. G. (2015).
 Geographic Variations in Prescription Opioid Dispensations and Deaths Among

Women and Men in British Columbia, Canada. Medical Care, 53(11), 954–959.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26418073

"Harm reduction reports". (2021, March 31). Harm reduction reports. BC Centre for Disease

Control. Retrieved May 3, 2022, from http://www.bccdc.ca/health-professionals/data-

reports/harm-reduction-reports

Smolina, K., Gladstone, E. J., Rutherford, K., & Morgan, S. G. (2016). Patterns and trends in

long-term opioid use for non-cancer pain in British Columbia, 2005–2012. Canadian

Journal of Public Health / Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique, 107(4–5), e404–

e409. https://www.jstor.org/stable/90006501

TABASHNECK, S. (2018). Family Drug Courts: Combatting the Opioid Epidemic. Family

Law Quarterly, 52(1), 183–202. https://www.jstor.org/stable/27007801

Welby, K. A. (2019). COPING WITH THE OPIOID CRISIS: TEACHERS NEED

SUPPORT, RIGHT NOW. The Phi Delta Kappan, 101(3), 53–56.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26837683