Safer injecting and Needle Exchange (two day or three day)

About the course: an essential course for all workers who engage with injectors. The course is intended to increase knowledge, skills and confidence in delivering effective, proactive harm reduction interventions to injecting drug users, in needle exchange and other settings

Who the course is for: all workers who engage with injectors. Includes needle exchange workers, hostel staff, nurses, drugs workers and criminal justice workers.

Duration: two or three days

Objectives:

• Increased understanding of why people inject
• Differentiate substance-specific issues for injectors
• ability to describe human anatomy for the purpose of understanding injecting
• Ability to identify and respond to risk
• Awareness of legal issues
• Ability to identify correct equipment for specific injecting tasks
• Increased skills to educate and undertake harm reduction work
• Strategies to reduce sharing
• ability to identify key complications
• ability to promote alternatives to injecting

Issues covered in three-day course:

• Why people inject
• Injecting and human physiology
• Where people inject
• Injecting technique
• IV use
• IM use
• High risk activity
• Sharing and infection
• Equipment
• Legal issues
• Injecting injuries
• Harm reduction strategies
• Hard-to-reach groups
• Work with young people
• Models of exchange provision
• Sharps handling
• Needle stick injury
• Record keeping

Format: Taught sections, small groups work and work in pairs, homework and group discussion.

Handouts: Manual on safer injecting and further reading

DANOS Modules: AA2, AA3, AA4, AB2, AB5, AF2, AH3, AH4

Sample feedback:
"found this course really enjoyable. facilitator was well organised and extremely knowledgeable..."

"to have a trainer who delivers with such enthusiasm is a pleasure. Lots learned and would highly recommend."

"thoroughly enjoyed it . will speak very positively about this course..."

"would recommend this course to colleagues"

"amazed how little I knew"

"excellent, informative, believe it will positively on practice"

"well thought out and enjoyable."