Equip practitioners to identify and respond to chemsex needs through culturally competent, harm reduction support

This course is open to service leaders, commissioners, practitioners, and volunteers who support individuals affected by chemsex, as well as those responsible for commissioning, managing, or delivering services for this population.

Newcastle City Council and Gateshead Council, in partnership with Gay Men's Health Collective (GMHC) are delivering chemsex training across Gateshead and Newcastle. The training provides frontline practitioners with a practical introduction to chemsex, helping staff from health, social care and support services recognise chemsex-related needs, have confident and culturally competent conversations, respond to immediate risks, provide harm reduction advice, and make effective referrals. Through interactive sessions, case studies and discussion, participants will build their understanding of chemsex, the drugs commonly involved, the experiences of LGBT+ communities, emergency responses, and local support pathways.

The training aims to helps participants:

Understand and explain chemsex

Identify the drugs associated with chemsex, and relevant terminology.

Recognise when further sensitive assessment may be appropriate.

Understand how to direct, culturally competent questions about sex and drug use.

Identify emergencies requiring immediate escalation and support.

Offer practical harm reduction to reduce risk and improve wellbeing.

Aim to make realistic referrals with warm handovers to appropriate services.

Identify changes they can make within their own practice to better support service users.

Recognise wider system and pathway issues

Description supplied by the event organiser.