Using mindfulness to develop health education strategies for blood borne virus prevention in injecting drug use

Abstract

Aims: Prevention education has had limited success in reducing transmission of blood borne virus among people who inject drugs. Innovative approaches to prevention education are required.

Method: This study used video recordings of injecting episodes and interviews with participants reviewing their video recordings to explore the concept of mindlessness as a new tool for prevention education.

Findings: The data demonstrate elements of mindlessness in participants’ injecting practice. Participants were unable to provide detailed description of their practice, could not recall the origin of their practices, described limited sensitivity to the environment around them and described learned behaviours ‘dropping out of mind’.

Conclusions: Although potentially useful as a prevention tool, prevention messages using mindlessness concepts should be developed in collaboration with injecting drug users to avoid judgmental or alienating messages. Finally, the use of these video recordings themselves can be a powerful education tool given the very hidden and stigmatized nature of injecting drug use.

Notes

Notes

[1] Jacking back: blood is withdrawn from the vein into the syringe to ensure that the needle is in the vein. Health professionals recommend that injectors only jack back once because this practice can cause damage to the vein. In this case, Debra is referring to the practice of continuing to jack back after the drug has been administered.

[2] Dirty hit: A dirty hit is a non-sterile injection which occurs when bacteria enters the drug solution and is injected into the bloodstream. Contaminates can come from equipment, mixing water, dirty hands or injecting into a site that has not been swabbed. A dirty hit can cause a range of symptoms including fever, vomiting, severe headaches, sweating, kidney pains and ‘the shakes’.

[3] Swabbing before injection: Swabbing refers to the use of alcohol-based wipes known as swabs. Health professionals recommend that swabs be used prior to injection only to clean bacteria from the skin. Injectors should use the swab once only and wipe in one direction as swabbing back and forth can spread dirt and bacteria around the injection site.

[4] Swabbing after injection: Using a swab to wipe the injection site post injection is not recommended as the alcohol in the swab and the wiping action can prevent the clot from forming. It is considered best practice to apply firm pressure to the injection site with cotton wool for a few minutes to minimize bleeding and promote healing.