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dc.contributor.authorTreloar, C.
dc.contributor.authorRance, J.
dc.contributor.authorBryant, J.
dc.contributor.authorFraser, Suzanne
dc.date.accessioned2017-01-30T13:18:00Z
dc.date.available2017-01-30T13:18:00Z
dc.date.created2016-11-30T19:30:21Z
dc.date.issued2016
dc.identifier.citationTreloar, C. and Rance, J. and Bryant, J. and Fraser, S. 2016. Harm reduction workers and the challenge of engaging couples who inject drugs in hepatitis C prevention.. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 168: pp. 170-175.
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30186
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.09.010
dc.description.abstract

AIMS: Despite injecting-equipment sharing between sexual partners leaving them at increased risk of hepatitis C (HCV), there is scant literature available to guide harm reduction workers in their encounters with couples who inject drugs. This article explored workers' understandings of such couples and their accounts of working with them in relation to HCV prevention. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 staff of harm reduction services located in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia. RESULTS: Overall, staff represented couples as either absent from the service or as presenting with needs indiscernible from those of individual clients. Responses to questions about HCV and couples were framed primarily in terms of risk. Staff participants questioned 'genuineness' of clients' intimate relationships, instead characterising them as inauthentic and drug-driven. Working with couples was seen to present a number of organisational and clinical challenges. The benefits of recognising and working with such partnerships received scant acknowledgement. Rather, staff tended to perceive couples as being 'impenetrable' to health promotion messaging. DISCUSSION: The framing and delivery of harm reduction in Australia remains an individualising enterprise with little capacity to recognise the intimate partnerships, including addressing the HCV risks specific to them. More effective harm reduction strategies may be achieved by transitioning to a practice framework that addresses the social context of injecting, including the experience of couples. This would require direct involvement of couples who inject drugs.

dc.publisherElsevier Ireland Ltd
dc.titleHarm reduction workers and the challenge of engaging couples who inject drugs in hepatitis C prevention.
dc.typeJournal Article
dcterms.source.volume168
dcterms.source.startPage170
dcterms.source.endPage175
dcterms.source.titleDrug and Alcohol Dependence
curtin.departmentNational Drug Research Institute (NDRI)
curtin.accessStatusFulltext not available


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