New article: Gender, harm and fun in young women and gender diverse people’s experiences of alcohol and other drug consumption

A new article by DruGS Program Lead Adrian Farrugia in collaboration with Kiran Pienaar (Deakin University) and Fay Dennis (University of London) explores the relationship between gender, harm and fun in young women and gender diverse people’s experiences of alcohol and other drug consumption. Building on recent DruGS team scholarship such as David Moore’s research…

Research directions for improved responses to young people’s e-cigarette use: New report from a consultation with e-cigarette policy and practice professionals

The DruGS team recently completed a professional consultation conducted on efforts to address young people’s use of e-cigarettes or vaping. Debate continues on how to balance the harm reduction potential of e-cigarettes against concerns about their potential risks. Key concerns include the acute harms of vaping and its potential to ‘normalise’ nicotine consumption, including smoking.…

New article: Health professional discourses on performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs), health, and masculinity

A new article by DruGS team members Gemma Nourse, David Moore and Suzanne Fraser examines health professional understandings of performance and image-enhancing drugs (PIEDs) in Australia. The article has been developed from Gemma’s PhD thesis, supervised by Suzanne and David, which examined what it means to be a man who consumes PIEDs, a practice commonly pathologised…

Addressing BBV and STI-related stigma in healthcare: New resources for healthcare services now available

The DruGS team has recently published an implementation guide to support healthcare workers to use the blood-borne viruses (BBV) and sexually transmissible infections (STI) stigma reduction toolkit. In 2022 the team published the practice-ready stigma reduction toolkit designed to be used by individual healthcare professionals and services to tackle stigma and discrimination related to BBVs…

Understanding women’s perspectives on take-home naloxone: New research broadsheet and overdose response resources

The DruGS team has just completed an innovative project exploring women’s perspectives on take-home naloxone, a drug that can temporarily reverse opioid overdose. While research suggests that gender can shape engagement with harm reduction initiatives such as take-home naloxone programs, these issues have only been fleetingly been acknowledged in available research. Responding to this, the…

DruGS research showcased at 2023 CDP conference, Paris

In September, DruGS team members travelled to Paris, France, to take part in the Contemporary Drug Problems conference. Co-convened by the journal’s co-editors Associate Professor Kate Seear and Professor kylie valentine along with the conference organising committee, this year’s conference theme was ‘Embracing trouble: New ways of doing, being and knowing’. The theme aimed to…

DruGS team to present research in Sweden and Portugal

November sees members of the DruGS Program travel to Europe to present a range of conference and seminar papers. DruGS Program Lead Professor Suzanne Fraser will present at a seminar hosted by Professor Mats Ekendahl (a DruGS Program collaborator) at the Department of Social Work, Stockholm University (8 November), and at the European Conference on…

Launching Vital Voices website

In May, members of the DruGS team will attend the 13th annual Australasian Viral Hepatitis Conference (29 to 31 May). This conference is a key event for researchers, practitioners and policy makers working in viral hepatitis and related areas, and is an important opportunity to showcase key outcomes for our Australian Research Council-funded project, ‘Lived…

Telehealth for hepatitis C treatment during the pandemic: What works?

In 2021 the DruGS team conducted an Australian Government Department of Health-funded qualitative study on telehealth treatment for hepatitis C during the COVID-19 pandemic. The final report from the project has just been launched via webinar, and featured presentations on the findings and recommendations and a panel discussion spanning harm reduction and peer support, advocacy…