Ketamine – Living in dreams, coping with realities

Ketamine is an atypical and complex drug that impacts on whole body system. Peers describe the sense of hopelessness that comes from being turned away from different services because their needs are defined as too complex for a single speciality. Coact has engaged the pioneering peer initiatives on ketamine and a new generation of lived experience drugs and youth workers to form the Ketamine Peer Advisory Group (K-PAG).

Multiple generations of people who use ketamine describe needing to train their workers to receive help with ketamine. Coact and K-PAG understand the insights that come from lived experience. Coact’s training model provides participants with the chance to gather technical learning and strengthen good practice through a dialogue with lived experience trainers. We offer three different models of training that seeks to address the complexity of ketamine and the need to bring different specialities together in an integrated model of care.

Training Models

Ketamine Area Learning and Development Event
A one-day training event for 40 – 50 participants. It provides a chance for stakeholders in an area system to come together to gather and share learning on ketamine. This course is designed for practitioners and peer workers from drug and alcohol services, young people’s drug services, youth services, general practice, accident and emergency, urology, psychiatry, public health and commissioning. Participants learn together while negotiating how to strengthen care pathways, drugs work, and peer support.

Ketamine Drug Service Training
A one-day training event for 20 – 30 drug and alcohol practitioners and peer workers. The course is focussed on developing technical learning to support the development of assessment skills, the delivery of good practice, and strengthening care pathways in drug services. This course model focusses on the drug and alcohol workforce and supports them to understand and plan how to work with the wider healthcare system to strengthen care pathways and develop an integrated response.

Ketamine – Technical Support Sessions
Two hour practice development sessions on ketamine. Delivered as two hour video conference training sessions. One-hour interactive presentation with plenary exercises and discussions. One-hour case studies or experiential learning activities in break out groups. Take home practice tools.

• Session 1 – ketamine harm reduction and the ketamine health check
• Session 2 – k-cramps – prevention, self-management and treatment
• Session 3 – ketamine bladder syndrome – prevention, self-management and treatment