People who consume drugs saving lives: Project findings

What is an opioid overdose? How do people manage and respond to them? What is take-home naloxone? What is it like to respond to overdoses with and without naloxone? A ground breaking new website sheds light on the stories of people affected by overdose and explores the different ways people who consume drugs manage overdose.…

Lives of Substance

Lives of Substance website launch

A groundbreaking new website was launched in Melbourne on Friday the 7th of October with the help of writer Kate Holden and harm reduction pioneer Jenny Kelsall. Lives of Substance is Australia’s first dedicated website presenting carefully researched personal stories of alcohol or other drug addiction, dependence or habit. Based on an innovative ARC-funded project, the website’s aim is to generate and present much-needed new…

Listening to young people

Having just completed data collection, SSAC PhD candidate Liz Normand is looking forward to tackling the next phase of her project: data analysis. A qualitative study supervised by Dr Robyn Dwyer and Professor Suzanne Fraser, the project’s key research questions are:  How do marginalised young people in contact with alcohol and other drug (AOD) services understand their AOD…

Lives of Substance

In 2014 Curtin University’s Social Studies of Addiction Concepts (SSAC) research team began work on an innovative project that would underpin Australia’s first dedicated web site presenting personal experiences of people who consider themselves to have an alcohol or other drug addiction, dependence or habit. The groundbreaking Lives of Substance website offers new perspectives on…

Update on experiences of addiction study

Focusing on the Bendigo area of Victoria, the second phase of SSAC’s ARC-funded research on experiences of alcohol and other drug addiction or dependence in Australia has now begun. With a population of 105 332, Bendigo is a major regional centre in Northern Victoria. It has a large service economy and hosts one of La Trobe University’s campuses. The site was chosen for…

New study: Experiences of addiction

A team of researchers led by SSAC’s Associate Professor Suzanne Fraser has been awarded $499,000 by the Australian Research Council to conduct research into lived experiences of addiction in Australia. This project, entitled ‘Experiences of addiction, treatment and recovery: An online resource for members of the public, health professionals and policy makers’, is the first…