'Peers are Bridge Builders' with Mat Southwell

About this episode

Mat Southwell discusses the role of peers in drug policy and service delivery with host Wez Steele.

In this episode of Drugs Uncut, SDF’s Wez Steele is joined by Mat Southwell, Project Co-ordinator at EuroNPUD. Mat and Wez discuss the key role peers have in the development of policy and practice as well as the effective delivery of services. They also discuss the uniquely British division between harm reduction advocacy and recovery when the community’s diverse experiences and perspectives are most impactful when peers work together. Mat provides international and UK examples of good practice in involving and compensating peers, and describes the good practice guide to employing people who use drugs which he created for The International HIV/AIDS Alliance in 2015. Finally, Mat and Wez discuss Mat’s involvement in research and the distribution of crack pipes in England, how peers are involved and what Scotland can learn.

People in this episode

Host: Wez Steele

Guest: Mat Southwell

Topics covered

• harm reduction
• peer support
• drug policy
• recovery
• community advocacy

Keywords

• drug policy
• harm reduction
• peer support
• recovery
• good practice

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: EuroNPUD, The International HIV/AIDS Alliance

Places: England, Scotland

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