Transcript what are the experiences of people using

Hepatitis C, Alcohol and ORT
What are the experiences of people using services?
A presentation by Lorraine, Paul and Paul
Introducing Ourselves
• We are 3 people in recovery who
volunteer with a range of services:
 North East Recovery Community (NERC)
 Naloxone Peer Educators
 RENEW (Recovery Empowers North East
Women)
 Park Recovery Cafe
 North East Recovery Day
What we are going to present:
• Using Peer Research
• What we wanted to find out
• Our Results
• Our Conclusions
Why Use Peer Research?
“ The less distance there is between
direct experience and its interpretation
the more accurate, reliable and less
distorted it is likely to be”
(Beresford 2005)
The peer research model helps to reduce the distance
between direct experience and interpretation.
What did we want to find out?
• The aim was to survey people who have
previously used drugs and alcohol and had
been engaged with treatment services.
• We were looking at people’s experiences with
alcohol and drug treatment services.
• We wanted to know if services addressed
alcohol use and Hepatitis C.
What we did?
• Hepatitis Scotland created a survey on Ipads
and trained us to use them.
• We then went to recovery cafes and services
to ask people about their experiences.
• We think using the Ipads was better than pen
and paper.
• People were happy to take part as it was
relaxed, and they knew we were peers.
Our Results
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We completed 47 surveys
60% (28) male, 40% (19) female
Average age was 43
The youngest was 27, the oldest was 65
39 people lived in Glasgow City, 5 lived in
Greater Glasgow or Lanarkshire, (3 did not
answer)
History of IDU
25 people (out of 47) have experience of injecting
the following substances:
ORT in the past 3 years
• 22 people have been prescribed ORT in the
past 3 years
• Of those 22:
 7 are currently prescribed Methadone
 2 are currently prescribed Suboxone
 6 are no longer using ORT
 7 did not answer
22 people used a service in the
past 3 years for ORT
22 people used a service in the
past 3 years for ORT
Alcohol Use – Past 3 years
• 39 (out of 47) people had drank alcohol in the last 3 years
Frequency of drinking in past 3 years
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
11
4
6
3
Twice a month
2-3 times a week
4-5 times a week
15
0
Once a month, or less
6-7 times a week
24 people used a service in the past 3
years for an alcohol problem
Hepatitis C
• 39 people have had a test for Hepatitis C
• Where were you last tested for Hepatitis C?
12 People have or have had Hepatitis C
• 6 have had treatment, 6 have not
• Treatment did not work for 3 people,
treatment was successful for 2, and 1 person
is awaiting their results.
• Of the 6 people who have not had treatment:
4 are waiting to start treatment. 1 has chosen
not to do treatment.
Drinking Frequency and Hepatitis C Status
Some comments from participants:
“I have had many difficult relationships with
drugs . I have used various services in relation to
my drug problem . I have found that most of
these services were very helpful and helped
move me forward.”
“The help I received changed my life xx”
Some comments from participants:
“I’ve recently joined a service and haven't been
made aware of hep c services yet”
“I’ve just started the service but I know they will
test me in phase 3”
“I was made aware of all support on hep c and
alcohol in my service”
Our Thoughts
• We think that people in our communities do
not link hepatitis c with alcohol.
• Some people, when stopping their drug use,
do move onto alcohol use.
• When speaking to people, there were some
who had been tested but not been made
aware of their results.
Conclusion
• People using services for an alcohol problem
should be tested for Hepatitis C
• The effects of alcohol on people living with
hepatitis C should be made more accessible to
people.
• We think testing should be offered earlier
when people use services
Hepatitis Scotland
1st Floor, 91 Mitchell Street, Glasgow, G1 3LN
phone: 0300 343 0250
www.hepatitisscotland.org.uk
email: [email protected]
twitter: @hepscotland
facebook: Hepatitis-Scotland