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drinkanddrugsnews
| July 2014
Conference report |
Kaleidoscope 2014
www.drinkanddrugsnews.com
Mat Southwell opened the 2014 Kaleidoscope Conference
by linking harm
reduction to mindfulness: ‘I find injecting ketamine helps me with mindfulness.’
The challenge he gave delegates was that governments may define recovery as
one without drugs, but as a service user he wanted to set his own agenda. The
challenge of harm reduction has always been one where the service user sets
their agenda for change.
The need for harm reduction is as true now as it ever has been in that we need
to keep people safe, so naloxone and needle and syringe exchanges are focused on
doing this. Mat talked about a time when he was using drugs chaotically, which
This year’s
Kaleidoscope
Conference looked at
how spiritual practices,
such as mindfulness,
could link to harm
reduction to improve
the treatment
landscape.
Martin
Blakebrough
reports
badly impacted on his life. He sought to change, but that change led him to consider
what drugs he could take and what drugs he was not able to live with. The problem
today is that many commissioners are focused on recovery, which they see as primarily
moving a person to being abstinent from drugs. The harm reduction message is being
disinvested in, which means many services are not being empowered.
Harm reduction, according to Dr Julia Lewis, is like Marmite – you seem to either
love it or loathe it. Its importance must not be minimalised, however. It is an evidence-
based approach that has saved millions of people – a principle that originates from
the UK and is now globally accepted. The development of needle and syringe
exchanges alongside substitute prescribing has made a real difference to people. Yet
many people find it a difficult concept as it seems that one is condoning behaviours
that many feel are immoral and destructive to society, as well as to the individual.
The use of drugs among drugs workers is a topical issue. Should staff not set an
example and advocate the perceived ideal of a drug-free lifestyle? If workers talk
about their own safe using does this not cause problems for someone who is
chaotically using drugs? The experience I have had does not bear this out. One of
the most successful programmes Kaleidoscope has run, Simplyworks, included a
staff member on a methadone programme, and that person had the best
engagement and outcomes of any of our staff.
In Wales, drug agencies have come together and established a peer mentoring
project, which has included substance users and has achieved staggering results;
Kaleidoscope in Cardiff found more than 200 permanent jobs for service users. In
India, one agency has active drug users providing needle syringe exchange and
substitute prescribing and again meets the needs of that drug-using community.
When we look at naloxone, it works best when we empower service users and I
would argue that we also give the dealers clean needles so at least people injecting
for the first time do so as safely as possible. Harm reduction is not an ideology, it
simply is based on what works – and that was the key message of this conference.
Service user empowerment is a fundamental part of harm reduction and in
Gwent Kaleidoscope has been delighted to work closely with The Voice, a proactive
service user group that has just opened its own Newport service, called the Hub.
What is critical to them is ensuring people receiving services are able to challenge
treatment providers and commissioners in designing the right services for their
needs. The service again is not driven by one theme, such as recovery, but looks
practically to support the user in the changes they wish to make. It has also
managed to reach out to an open prison, developing a very strong link with HMP
Prescoed, where some prisoners have volunteered to support the Hub with their
unique skills and at the same time address their own issues through peer support.
The workshop they ran at the conference gave space for service users to talk about
their own personal journeys and was one of the highlights of the day.
mind
over
matter