Life stories of people accessing substance use services

Abstract

Background: The number of drug-related deaths associated with illicit drug use remains high, despite service developments and improvements. Therefore, it is important to improve our understanding of people using illegal substances and early in their recovery journeys. The current research aimed to do this by exploring the life stories of people accessing substance use services.
Methods: Six people accessing substance use services in Scotland, and early in recovery or still using illicit drugs, were recruited via a local third-sector organisation. Narrative approach methods were used to gather in-depth interviews and analyse the data on the thematic, structural and dialogical/performative aspects.
Results: The main themes were Substance use in context, Accessing services, and Point of transition. Participants were making sense of what had happened in their lives, the context of their substance use, memories and emotions associated with it. Services either facilitated or mitigated this process, as people were facing shame and regrets about their past decisions. The level of coherence and structure in the stories was indicative of people being at varying points of processing and integrating memories into the life narrative.
Conclusion: The research highlights the importance of supporting illicit drug users in their transition to recovery. The key part of this process is making sense of their lives and what their lives could be. It is important to support them in an unbiased, empowering and compassionate way.

Date of Award	9 Sept 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	University of Plymouth
Supervisor	Steve Minton (Director of Studies (First Supervisor))