ssh-chemsex-study-final-main-report

Interviews took place either at the Sigma Research offices
at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, or
at the homes of participants. They lasted between one
and two hours and explored, in detail:
• men’s sexual history and current sexual behaviour;
• drug use and history of drug taking;
• motivations for using drugs during sex;
• perceived social norms surrounding chemsex;
• the impact of drugs on sexual practice and sexual
pleasure;
• harms relating to chemsex they had personally
experienced or witnessed in others;
• and experiences of managing their drug use and/or
seeking help.
All interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed
verbatim. Data was subjected to a rigorous, inductive
thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006), aided by
qualitative analysis software, NVIVO.
2.3 FOCUS GROUPS WITH MEMBERS OF LOCAL GAY COMMUNITY
In order to understand perceived community norms
relating to chemsex, we convened two focus groups with
gay and bisexual men resident in Lambeth, Southwark
and Lewisham. These men were recruited via social
media, e-newsletters distributed by community based
organisations that cater for gay men, and some had
volunteered to take part in interviews after the quota of
30 participants had been met. Most of those who took
part had experience of using drugs within the previous
12 months, although this was not an essential criteria for
inclusion. Of the 12 men who took part in total, one had
diagnosed HIV while 11 had last tested negative. They
varied in age from 25 to 53 (mean = 38) and all were of
white ethnicity (however seven were non-British). Nine
men were resident in Lambeth, two in Southwark and
one in Lewisham and all described themselves as gay.
Discussions within these groups centred on perceptions
of drug use on the gay scene in London (historically
and currently), perceptions and understandings of
chemsex, perceived harms associated with chemsex, and
perceptions of services (existing and potential) to meet
the needs of gay men in South London.
2.4 FOCUS GROUP & INTERVIEWS WITH COMMUNITY AND CLINICAL SERVICE
PROVIDERS
In mid-November 2013 a focus group was convened with
staff and volunteers from community based organisations
that work to support the sexual health and well-being
needs of gay men in Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham.
A total of 11 people took part, representing 4 different
organisations and a range of job roles, from counsellors
and mentors, to service mangers. Discussion centred
on experience of supporting gay and bisexual men in
relation to their drug use, perceptions on changing
drug use trends among the gay community, changes in
service delivery in response to the issue of chemsex, and
perceived service development need.
Four brief interviews (of between 30 and 45 minutes)
were also conducted with clinical service providers
from each of the boroughs. These were a sexual health
consultant, a lead health advisor and two specialist
nurses. Discussion mirrored the community-based service
providers’ focus group.
The clinical and community provider focus groups and
interviews helped to shape the content of the interviews,
framed priorities for analysis and contributed to the
recommendations outlined in chapter 9, however the
data collected within them does not feature heavily in
this report.
The Chemsex Study | 2. METHODS 16