The DOPE project educates approximately 250 current drug users every year by means of 25 peer education workshops, which accommodate up to 10 participants per workshop. These workshops are held at a range of clinics, organisations and services attended by people who inject drugs.

 

Although we try to target 250 new participants each year, there is also value in people coming back for a ‘refresher’ workshop.  Our evaluation suggests that some people take longer to absorb the information and to feel confident enough to act on it.

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Each workshop goes for approx. 3 hours with short breaks and a meal provided. 

Some people say that the workshop is too long and they cringe at the thought of having to participate for “that long”.

Yet more often than not, as I start to wrap things up, I hear those same people saying “is that it?” or “gee that went quick!” 

So, it is true that time really does fly when you are having fun.

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Here at HRVic, we are firm believers in the concept of ‘information overload’ and as such try hard not to cram everything into one workshop which is why our workshops are flexible.

Once everyone has arrived at a workshop, we usually start with a quick discussion around what drugs the participants are using and what they already know about overdose. That way we can tailor the workshop to suit those present and make sure that the information is interesting and relevant.