Workforce Development, Education, and Consultancy

How can PBHR WA help?
Popular Topics
Peer Pal In-reach
Bespoke Training, Bookings and Other Enquiries

Workforce Development, Education, and Consultancy

How can PBHR WA help?
Popular Topics
Peer Pal In-reach
Bespoke Training, Bookings and Other Enquiries

How can PBHR WA help?

We provide guest lectures to tertiary education institutions and education, training, and consultancy to a variety of other organisations. Our education and training sessions can be delivered online or in your workplace and individually tailored to the needs of your team.

PBHR WA has been delivering front-line health and harm reduction services in WA for more than 30 years, informed by the lived experience of people who use drugs. The credibility and relevance of the education and consultancy we offer to other agencies is founded upon our flexible, adaptive, consumer-centred and community-led model of service delivery and our uniquely peer-based perspective.

PBHR WA offers Recognising and Responding to Opioid Overdose with Naloxone training at no cost. All other sessions come with a fee of $165 per hour or part thereof.

Popular Topics

Recognising and Responding to Opioid Overdose with Naloxone

This free training aims to provide participants with the knowledge and confidence to recognise, respond, and reverse an opioid overdose with naloxone. Previous training in First Aid is not an essential criterion. This simple language, peer-perspective training is suitable for your workforce or service users and will cover the following topics:

What is naloxone and how does it work?
Overdose risk factors
Signs and symptoms of opioid overdose
How to administer naloxone (Nyxoid intranasal spray and/or Prenoxad intramuscular injection)
Aftercare
Responding to an overdosed person using the DRS AB‘N’CD action plan
Storing take-home naloxone
Take-home naloxone can be supplied to participants at risk of witnessing or experiencing opioid overdose at the end of the session. Please note that this training does not authorise participants to on-supply take-home naloxone to others.

Working with Difficult or Challenging Behaviour (Principles of De-escalation)

The objective is to develop participants’ attitudes, self-awareness, knowledge, and practical skills in anticipating, preventing, and managing aggression or other challenging behaviour, and in engaging with and responding safely, respectfully, and effectively to people who are anxious, intoxicated, or experiencing delusions or psychosis. This session is designed for front-line workers who regularly deal with difficult or challenging behaviours, but who work in non-coercive roles, and can be tailored to suit the specific roles and environment(s) your team works in. Content includes:

Relevant WA law, evidence base and theory of awareness and stress in crisis; (to inform best practice).
Risk; (practices and systems to improve awareness, assessment, and management of risk).
Understanding and managing stress response; (in self and others).
Preventative measures; (behavioural and environmental measures to reduce risk).
Working with people who are experiencing acute distress, intoxication, or psychosis.
De-escalation skills; (verbal and non-verbal).
Worst case scenarios; (distancing, protective strategies, and immediate response to potentially violent incidents).
Aftermath; (incident reporting, support, self-care and well-being).

The Ins and Outs of Injecting Drug Use

A comprehensive, peer-based overview of strategies designed to reduce the risk of harm associated with non-medical injecting drug use. This session can be tailored to your needs and can discuss blood-borne viruses, non-viral infections and injury, needle and syringe programs, safe disposal, vein-care and safer injection practices, and the use of specialised filtering devices (including practical demonstration of wheel filters).

Hepatitis C Training

This session aims to take the guesswork out of talking about hepatitis C, using real-world insights to help you overcome stigma and feel confident starting simple, open conversations with people you are working with. You’ll get an overview of hepatitis C, liver disease, hepatitis C testing, and Direct-Acting Antiviral treatments as well as tips and case studies to make engagement more effective. This session can also be presented as a peer education session for consumers.

Current and Emerging Trends in Illicit Drug Use

Go beyond the headlines to find out what’s really happening at a population level with changing drug markets in Australia. Gain insights into emerging issues, novel substances, and the implications for policy, services, and community. Understand the difference between a drug alert, an anecdotal report, and a drug trend and get relevant harm reduction information.

Peer Pal In-reach

PBHR WA’s Peer Pal is a free service that provides peer harm reduction and overdose prevention education to people who inject drugs or who may be at risk of witnessing or experiencing opioid overdose. A lived experience peer worker can visit your service and assist with topics including safer injecting, blood-borne viruses (prevention, testing, and treatment), equipment demonstration and provision, overdose prevention and take-home naloxone, and referral to PBHR WA services when appropriate.

Peer Pal normalises positive conversations about peer-informed, accurate, and practical information without an abstinence-based agenda. Peer Pal focuses on reducing harm and building people’s autonomy to make informed choices about their health and well-being, no matter what their circumstances may be.

Email overdoseprevention@harmreductionwa.org for more details and find out how PBHR WA’s Peer Pal service can help.

Bespoke Training, Bookings, and Other Enquiries

Don’t see exactly what you’re looking for? At the heart of peer-based harm reduction is the understanding that our community is incredibly diverse and that drugs and the ways that people use them are constantly evolving. If the topic you are interested in is not listed on this page, we may be able to create a bespoke session that is individually tailored to the unique needs of your workforce or consumers.

Our team also regularly provides consultancy and advice (to policy makers, service providers, shires & councils etc) around responding to various drug-related issues. If we can be of use, just ask.

For bookings, bespoke training, and all other enquiries about consultancy, workforce development, and education, get in touch with us at
overdoseprevention@harmreductionwa.org