Background

Research reveals that sexuality and gender diverse people use drugs in sexualised settings at higher rates than the general population. This is commonly known as chemsex or Party and Play (PnP). While not everyone who uses drugs during sexual experiences will experience harm, some people do. Potential risks include unsafe sex, drug overdose and sexual assault. 

Building on 30 years of delivering innovative peer-to peer-programs addressing HIV and the health and wellbeing of sexuality and gender diverse populations and guided by the work of David Stuart and the 56 Dean Street Clinic in the UK, health promotion organisation ACON set out to develop a learning program to provide people who engage in PnP with access to the information and support they need to stay safe.

In line with ACON’s philosophy, they wanted the program to be person-centred, non-judgemental and focussed on harm reduction.

With extensive experience delivering learning programs with a social impact and in situations where participants may be vulnerable, The ID Crowd was in a unique position to bring ACON’s idea for a program that would drive behavioural change in complex circumstances to life. The ID Crowd understood and shared ACON’s vision of putting the learner at the centre of the process. 

ACON - here for health

PnP Self Assessment Tool

Our approach

ACON, with the help of The ID Crowd, developed a PnP toolkit consisting of an interactive PnP self-assessment tool. The tool is a way for people to reflect on their experiences and, should they choose to, take steps to change their relationship with PnP. The tool is complemented by additional PnP resources and the option to participate in a voluntary PnP peer chat. 

Split into two parts, the first phase of the PnP interactive tool is a self reflection or self assessment which asks the respondent questions about their drug use, their involvement in PnP, whether they are experiencing any harm, if their health and safety has been affected and what behaviours and boundaries are in place.

Should the respondent want to change their relationship with PnP, they can then access the Make a Change tool. This tool utilises motivational interviewing and self-reflection to uncover what’s important to the respondent, help the respondent set goals such as reducing the frequency of PnP or abstaining, and recommend actionable strategies that can be used to make a change. The tool also identifies any potential triggers which could get in the way.

Respondents are provided with immediate feedback through a personalised and customised pdf summary which they can reflect upon on their own, or take to an appointment with a PnP Peer or another healthcare provider.  

Should the respondent choose to, they can access ACON’s free and confidential PnP peer chat, with trained and non-judgemental peers who are sexuality or gender diverse people who have lived experiences with PnP. The PnP peer chat can help participants stay safe, assess their relationship with PnP, learn strategies to manage drug use and find out what services are available. 

Innovating with rapid eLearning tools

The ID Crowd is committed to creating sustainable long-term learning programs where the client has full access to update and maintain the files should they wish to do so. 

For ACON, we used the rapid eLearning tool Storyline to create a fully customisable resource that the ACON team could maintain on their end once the initial project was completed. The mobile friendly tool was developed on a tight budget while still looking great and being fit for purpose. 

Storyline - tech of choice