PARTNER POWER
Many roads
The 15th DDN Conference
‘ I
’ ve lost a lot of people who drug treatment doesn ’ t work for ,’ harm reduction content creator at Cranstoun , Alistair Bryant , told the conference . ‘ If you can get to any of our doors , you ’ re already halfway through what you need to do . I think it ’ s time to work with that community who can ’ t come to us , or who are just happy where they are . So how do we do that , and how do we embrace harm reduction as a whole ?’
Cranstoun ’ s Worcestershire service had developed a peer-led naloxone team , PACKS – ‘ peerassisted community knowledge and support ’, he said ( DDN , April , page 16 ). ‘ They have keys to the community that we don ’ t have . I can now take harm reduction and support to people who need it the most – that ’ s why we all need to
The second session of the DDN conference explored the countless benefits and opportunities of partnership working
start working with the people on the other side of our door .’
Cranstoun had recently launched a pouch containing two naloxone injections that was specifically designed to be visible . The commissioners had been impressed and provided further funding , and the PACKS team then packed ‘ an entire room ’ of pouches . ‘ We probably packed 500 , and we got them out there . It was amazing to see the potential of a group of people who treatment , volunteering and peer mentoring has ignored for the last ten years . There are damn good people with skill sets who treatment haven ’ t embraced because they “ might be too risky ”.’
PACKS videos on social media had now had more than 1.5m views , he added , with the content most popular among 18 to 35-year-olds . ‘ In Worcester , that ’ s the age range who don ’ t stay in treatment because they don ’ t find it meaningful . Yet the appetite for being safe is very much there .’ It was also vital to pay people , however . ‘ If you want people to do something , pay them to do it . Pay peers , rep the underdog , and change the system .’
APP-BASED SERVICE Cranstoun was also piloting a new app-based service to reach those people ‘ not inside the treatment doors , and behind their own closed doors when they use drugs ’, said his colleague , assistant director for business development , Luke O ’ Neill . More than half of people who died a drug-related death died alone , he said . Cranstoun had approached a Canadian software developer to ask if they ’ d help develop a UK version of an app they ’ d launched in Vancouver , he
said – the result was Cranstoun ’ s Buddy Up ( DDN , May , page 5 ).
Buddy Up was a low-threshold harm reduction app that had been created specifically for people using drugs alone , to put them in touch with someone who could send help in case of a suspected overdose . The service was anonymous and private , with callers able to create multiple rescue plans if they used drugs in different locations . While the pilot currently used paid staff , volunteers and peers would have a role to play in scaling up and improving it , he said .
Discussions with the organisation ’ s insurance broker about ‘ what is essentially a digital safer injecting service was an interesting one to navigate ’, he told delegates , and there had also been ethical considerations . ‘ At the moment our supporters will send an emergency ambulance response in the case of an overdose , but in North America people can nominate a rescuer ’ – such as a next-of-kin .
‘ There ’ s scope to do that here , but we need to think carefully
10 • DRINK AND DRUGS NEWS • SEPTEMBER 2023 WWW . DRINKANDDRUGSNEWS . COM