This website is based on qualitative research conducted in Australia by researchers from La Trobe University’s Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society (ARCSHS) and Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute (NDRI), in collaboration with La Trobe University’s Centre for Alcohol Policy Research (CAPR), the Burnet Institute and King’s College London. The research was funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project grant (DP170101669).
Professor Suzanne Fraser is Director of the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, and is program leader of the Centre’s Drugs, Gender and Sexuality research program. Suzanne was Principal Chief Investigator for the project and oversaw the research on which this website is based. She guided the development of research materials, oversaw participant recruitment and interviewing, led the analysis and write-up of results, guided the preparation of website content and supervised the project staff.
Dr Robyn Dwyer is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Alcohol Policy Research, School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, and is Adjunct Research Fellow at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University. Robyn was a Chief Investigator on the project. She developed the approach, provided input into the development of research and website materials, advised on participant recruitment and interviewing and contributed to analysis and the write-up of results.
Professor Paul Dietze is the Director of the Behaviours and Health Risks Program at the Burnet Institute. He contributed to the development of World Health Organisation guidelines for the community management of opioid overdose in 2014 and he is the Partner Investigator on the World Health Organisation/United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime S-O-S Initiative rolling out take-home naloxone in Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine. Paul was a Chief Investigator on the project. He provided input into the development of research and website materials, advised on participant recruitment and interviewing, and contributed to analysis and the write-up of results.
Professor Joanne Neale is Professor of Addictions Qualitative Research at the National Addiction Centre, King’s College London. She is also Conjunct Professor in the Centre for Social Research in Health at the University of New South Wales. Joanne was a Partner Investigator on the project and contributed to the development of research and website materials, advised on methodology and interviewing, and contributed to analysis and the write-up of results.
Professor John Strang is Head of the National Addictions Centre, King’s College London and Academic Leader of the Addictions Clinical Academic Group within the King’s Health Partners Academic Health Science Centre. John was a Partner Investigator on the project. He contributed to data analysis, provided input into the development of website materials and contributed to the write-up of results.
Dr Adrian Farrugia is a Research Fellow in the Drugs, Gender and Sexuality Research Program at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University, and is Adjunct Research Fellow at the National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University. Adrian coordinated the project, conducted interviews and data analysis, and led the writing of the topics and stories for this website.
Dr Renae Fomiatti is a Research Officer in the Drugs, Gender and Sexuality Research Program at the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University. Renae provided research assistance and administrative support to the project including conducting interviews, data analysis and preparing website content.
Ms Elizabeth Carrigan
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Pain Management Association, Queensland, Australia
Ms Jane Dicka
Drug Overdose Peer Educator, Harm Reduction Victoria, Victoria, Australia
Associate Professor Adrian Dunlop
Area Director and Addiction Medicine Senior Staff Specialist, Hunter New England Area Health, New South Wales, Australia
Conjoint Professor, School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia
Dr Marianne Jauncey
Medical Director, Uniting Medically Supervised Injecting Centre, New South Wales, Australia
Mr Trevor King
Senior Manager Program Development, Uniting ReGen, Victoria and Tasmania, Australia
Mr Tom Lyons
Senior Policy Officer, Department of Health and Human Services, Victoria, Australia
Ms Angela Matheson
Principal Program Manager, Harm Reduction, Alcohol and Other Drugs Branch, New South Wales Health, New South Wales, Australia
Mr Angelo Pricolo
Vice President, Pharmacy Guild of Australia, Victoria, Australia
Sincere thanks to the people who took part in this research for generously sharing their stories.
Thanks also go to:
We thank the actors represented by Real People, who played the roles listed below:
| Participant | Actor |
|---|---|
| Adele | Bronwyn Murphy |
| Andrew | Allon Dinor |
| Cameron | Soledad Hassett |
| Elijah | Luke Maizey |
| Farez | Adam Ramzi |
| Gabrielle | Juliette Armstrong |
| Ghassan | George Chahine |
| Jamie | Rowan Oliver |
| Karlijn | Brigette Staub-pflueger |
| Ken | Matthew Hadgraft |
| Lacey | Stephanie Bursill |
| Lewis | Robert Barker |
| Lola | Alice Howell |
| Russell | Phil Pitt |
| Sadie | Hazel Maung |
| Skye-Lee | Kathrine Clarke |
| Valentina | Melissa Micallef |
| Zippy | Bruce Whalley |
This website is funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery Project Grant (DP170101669).
Curtin University’s National Drug Research Institute is supported by funding from the Australian Government under the Substance Misuse Prevention and Service Improvements Grants Fund, with additional research funding coming from a range of national and international sources. The Burnet Institute gratefully acknowledges the contribution to this work of the Victorian Operational Infrastructure Support Program.
Paul Dietze has been appointed as an unpaid member of the Australian Mundipharma Advisory Board for an intranasal naloxone formulation. He has received investigator-driven funding from Gilead Sciences Inc. for work related to hepatitis C treatment and an untied educational grant from Indivior Ltd for work related to the introduction of buprenorphine/naloxone into Australia.
Joanne Neale has, through her University, received research funding to study novel opioid pharmacotherapy delivery systems (such as implants and depot injection) and nasal naloxone from pharmaceutical companies Mundipharma Research Ltd and Camurus AB.
John Strang is supported by the the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health at South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London. John is working with the pharmaceutical industry to identify new or improved treatments and his employer (King’s College London) has received grants, travel costs and/or consultancy payments; this includes investigation of new naloxone formulations and has included work with, in the past three years, Martindale Ltd, Indivior Ltd and Mundipharma Pty Ltd (all of which have naloxone products). His employer (King’s College London) has also registered intellectual property on a buccal naloxone formulation, naming John and colleagues, and he was earlier named in a patent registration by a pharmaceutical company regarding concentrated nasal naloxone spray.
NOTE: Overdoselifesavers.org uses a similar presentation format to another website, Livesofsubstance.org, which was produced in collaboration with Healthtalk Australia, with support from other collaborating parties. The initial project for Livesofsubstance.org used the ‘DIPEx’ approach to research and online resource (website) production. This approach was developed by the Medical Sociology & Health Experiences Research Group, in the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. It is used by Healthtalk Australia and other licensed members of DIPEx International. While the two websites are linked online, Overdose Lifesavers is not associated with Healthtalk Australia.