'The general concept is a safer use approach': how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care.
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| Title: | 'The general concept is a safer use approach': how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care. |
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| Authors: | Piatkowski, Timothy (AUTHOR), Cox, Luke (AUTHOR), Gibbs, Nick (AUTHOR), Turnock, Luke (AUTHOR), Dunn, Matthew (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy. Oct2025, Vol. 32 Issue 5, p461-469. 9p. |
| Subjects: | Substance abuse prevention, Professionalism, Safety, Community health services, Occupational roles, Qualitative research, Anabolic steroids, Statistical sampling, Interviewing, Risk management in business, Personal trainers, Judgment sampling, Descriptive statistics, Client relations, Harm reduction, Attitudes of medical personnel, Research methodology, Trust, Data analysis software, Psychosocial factors |
| Abstract: | Background: Drug coaches are a novel extension of traditional personal trainers who play a significant role providing support and shaping drug-related behaviours for people who use image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). They constitute a critical domain for everyday risk management, where substance use, and its associated harms are influenced by social exchange. This study investigated how IPED coaches negotiate safety within the community through the provision of their services and the partnerships they form with clients. Method: Ten IPED coaches, selected through purposive sampling, engaged in semi-structured interviews (32–57 minutes in length) exploring the way in which they operate in their field of practice. Iterative inductive analysis was applied to the transcripts, enhanced by discussions among researchers and an independent coder. Results: The findings are organised under three categories, revealing the nuanced strategies and identities of IPED coaches, emphasising harm reduction and optimising 'gains' in IPED use. These coaches play a significant role in harm reduction, wielding their 'chemical capital' and lived experience to integrate nuanced harm reduction strategies into their partnerships with clients. Conclusion: Embodying a model of peer-driven knowledge exchange and emphasising open and inclusive discourse IPED coaches offer a vehicle toward integrated harm reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | Background: Drug coaches are a novel extension of traditional personal trainers who play a significant role providing support and shaping drug-related behaviours for people who use image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). They constitute a critical domain for everyday risk management, where substance use, and its associated harms are influenced by social exchange. This study investigated how IPED coaches negotiate safety within the community through the provision of their services and the partnerships they form with clients. Method: Ten IPED coaches, selected through purposive sampling, engaged in semi-structured interviews (32–57 minutes in length) exploring the way in which they operate in their field of practice. Iterative inductive analysis was applied to the transcripts, enhanced by discussions among researchers and an independent coder. Results: The findings are organised under three categories, revealing the nuanced strategies and identities of IPED coaches, emphasising harm reduction and optimising 'gains' in IPED use. These coaches play a significant role in harm reduction, wielding their 'chemical capital' and lived experience to integrate nuanced harm reduction strategies into their partnerships with clients. Conclusion: Embodying a model of peer-driven knowledge exchange and emphasising open and inclusive discourse IPED coaches offer a vehicle toward integrated harm reduction strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 09687637 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/09687637.2024.2352442 |
