Stigma by association among alcohol and other drug and harm reduction workers: Implications for workplace outcomes.

Introduction: The negative attitudes people hold towards those who use alcohol or other drugs (AOD) can also affect the people who work with this community, leading to lowered productivity and wellbeing. The impact of this stigma by association in the AOD and harm reduction sector is particularly significant because workers may have lived experience of AOD use and identify strongly with their client group. This study aimed to examine how stigma by association among health workers in the AOD/harm reduction sector relates to workplace outcomes.

Experiences of stigma and subsequent reduced access to health care among women who inject drugs.

Introduction: Research into stigma and injecting drug use has typically involved predominantly male participants, with limited research about the unique experience of women who inject drugs.

Methods: This study used survey methods to assess reduced access to health care due to stigma among a sample of women who inject drugs. Women (n = 232) completed a survey as part of a broader national study of people who inject drugs.

The gendered violence of injecting-related stigma among relatively affluent, suburban women who inject drugs.

Introduction: In honouring the legacy of Jude Byrne's life-long advocacy for women and mothers who use drugs, this paper presents a case study of a group of women about whom we know little about and hear even less from: women who inject drugs in relatively affluent suburbs.

Methods: Based on a 2020 qualitative study of people who inject drugs in an affluent area of Sydney known as 'The Beaches', we use in-depth interview data to thematically explore the lived experiences of gendered stigma among women who inject drugs.

Results: Even when women occupy the 'ideal' social position in terms of class (middle-class) and race (White) they remain subject to harmful forms of gendered stigma related to injecting drug use.

Engagement and outcomes of marginalised young people in an early intervention youth alcohol and other drug program: The Street Universities model.

Background: Early intervention alcohol and drug (AOD) programs for disadvantaged young people have the potential to substantially decrease the need for future intervention, however there is little research about how young people use these programs or the substance use and other outcomes of such programs. This paper uses data from an Australian AOD early intervention program, The Street Universities, to: describe young people's participation; examine changes in substance use and wellbeing over 90 days; and assess which young people are most positively impacted.

Methods: Data come from a prospective study of new attendees, measuring retention in and attendance patterns in an 'engagement' program focussed on arts and lifestyle activities (n = 95), and a routine service dataset collected from seven years of therapeutic intervention (n = 3,893), measuring substance dependence (SDS), psychological distress (K10) and quality of life (EQoL).

Practising care in a pandemic: Accounting for everyday life during COVID-19 among people who inject drugs.

From the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, fears have been raised worldwide regarding the unique challenges facing socially marginalised people such as those who inject drugs. This article draws on in-depth interviews conducted during the first year of the pandemic with people who inject drugs living in urban and regional Australia. Perhaps the most surprising finding to emerge was the number of participants who reported minimal disruption to their everyday lives, even improved wellbeing in some instances.

Factors associated with sharing equipment among people who inject drugs: The role of community attachment in harm reduction and health promotion.

Introduction: Sharing injecting equipment is a major route of transmission for blood borne viruses such as hepatitis C and HIV. Although needle and syringe programs are widely available throughout metropolitan Australia, rates of sharing equipment have not significantly changed in recent years. This study aimed to identify factors associated with recent equipment sharing among people who inject drugs in Australia.

Injection drug use in an affluent beachside community in Sydney: An exploratory qualitative study.

Introduction: Social research on injection drug use has focussed on marginalised groups and communities, leaving a large gap in the field's understanding of how it is experienced in other settings, including in relatively affluent communities.

Methods: This research is based on fieldwork and 18 in-depth qualitative interviews conducted in suburban beach-side communities in Sydney collectively known as the Northern Beaches.

Results: Participants did not experience stigmatisation by local health services as the norm or as a deterrent to access.

Optimising community health services in Australia for populations affected by stigmatised infections: What do service users want?

Stigma in health services undermines diagnosis, treatment and successful health outcomes for all communities, but especially for those affected by blood-borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). This study sought to examine experiences in accessing and receiving health services, including what characteristics promoted better health, safety and well-being for people with blood-borne viruses or STIss. It conducted 46 in-depth interviews with people who inject drugs, gay men and other men who have sex with men, sex workers, people in custodial settings, culturally and linguistically diverse people, Indigenous Australians and young people in one Australian urban community setting.

Health worker perceptions of the impact of COVID-19 on harm reduction services for people who inject drugs.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected entire systems of health service provision globally, including health service closure, redeployment of staff and resources and implementation of infection prevention protocols. Harm reduction facilities face particular challenges responding to COVID-19, attempting to continue service provision to people who inject drugs with minimal service disruption whilst protecting their staff. This research assessed the impact of COVID-19 on staff working at harm reduction and alcohol and other drug (AOD) services in Australia in the first 9 months of the pandemic.

Sexual Difficulties, Problems, and Help-Seeking in a National Representative Sample: The Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships.

The Australian Study of Health and Relationships is a large national population-representative survey of sexual behavior and attitudes conducted every decade. We describe experiences of sexual difficulties lasting at least a month among Australians surveyed in 2012-2013 and identify changes since the previous survey in 2001-2002. Computer-assisted telephone interviews were completed by 20,091 people aged 16-69 years (participation rate 66%) of whom 16,897 people had had sex with a partner in the previous year.

Reproductive experiences and outcomes among a representative sample of women: the Second Australian Study of Health and Relationships.

Objective: To enumerate pregnancy outcomes for a representative sample of women in Australia surveyed in 2012-2013 (primary aim) and compare these with women surveyed in 2001-2002 (secondary aim).

Methods: Computer-assisted telephone interviews with over 10,000 women aged 16-69 years (participation rate 68.4%).

Contraceptive practices among women: the second Australian study of health and relationships.

Objective: To document the use of contraception by a representative sample of Australian women aged 16-49 years and compare it with 2001-2002.

Methods: Women were asked about their use of contraception and method used or reason for non-use during computer-assisted telephone interviews in 2012-2013. Women were sampled by random digit dialling of landline and mobile phones (participation rate 67.