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Experiences of addiction, treatment and recovery: An online resource for members of the public, health professionals and policymakers

  • Research program: Social studies of addiction concepts
  • Project status: Completed
  • Start date: April 2014
  • Expected end date: December 2017
  • Completion date: July 2017
  • Funded by: Australian Research Council DP140100996
  • Lead organisation:
Project Description

This project is the first of its kind in Australia and around the world. Funded by the Australian Research Council, it will generate much-needed new insights into the range of experiences that make up life for people who consider themselves to have an addiction. How do people manage this aspect of their lives? What does addiction mean to them? How do they cope with the stigma associated with addiction? What kind of help do they seek, where necessary? What resources are important to them? Applying a proven qualitative methodology developed by the Oxford University Health Experiences Research Group (HERG), it will collect and analyse the personal accounts of people who describe themselves as having an addiction, and present these accounts in textual, audio and re-enacted video form on a publicly accessible website. Modelled on the award-winning UK website www.healthtalkonline.org (HTO), this ground breaking Australia-specific resource will provide otherwise inaccessible information to those affected by addiction, health professionals and the general public. It will directly benefit affected individuals, their family and friends, and the Australian community, and aid in training and support for health professionals and policymakers.

PhD Student
PhD Supervisors
NDRI Project Staff
Name & Contact Details Role Research Program Location
NDRI Adjunct Project Staff
External Project Staff
  • Principal Investigator: Suzanne Fraser, La Trobe University
  • Chief Investigator: Renata Kokanovic, Monash University
  • Chief Investigator: David Moore, La Trobe University
  • Chief Investigator: Carla Treloar, University of New South Wales
  • Co-investigator: Adrian Dunlop, University of Newcastle
Project Contact
Sustainable Development Goals and Targets

This project aligns with the following Sustainable Development Goals and Targets:

Related Publications

Dilkes-Frayne, E., Fraser, S., Pienaar, K. and Kokanovic, R. (2017). Iterating ‘addiction’: Residential relocation and the spatio-temporal production of alcohol and other drug consumption patterns. International Journal of Drug Policy, 44, pp. 164-173. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.05.024 [RJ1293] View web page

Fraser, S., Pienaar, K., Dilkes-Frayne, E., Moore, D., Kokanovic, R., Treloar, C. and Dunlop, A. (2017). Addiction stigma and the biopolitics of liberal modernity: A qualitative analysis. International Journal of Drug Policy, 44, pp. 192-201. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.02.005 [RJ1285] View web page

Moore, D., Pienaar, K., Dilkes-Frayne, E. and Fraser, S. (2017). Challenging the addiction/health binary with assemblage thinking: An analysis of consumer accounts. International Journal of Drug Policy, 44, pp. 155-163. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.01.013 [RJ1284] View web page

Pienaar, K. and Dilkes-Frayne, E. (2017). Telling different stories, making new realities: The ontological politics of 'addiction' biographies. International Journal of Drug Policy, 44, pp. 145-154. doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2017.05.011 [RJ1299] View web page

Pienaar, K., Dilkes-Frayne, E., Fraser, S., Kokanovic, R., Moore, D., Treloar, C. and Dunlop, A. (2017). Lives of Substance - Experiences of alcohol and other drug addiction, dependence or habit in Australia: Findings and recommendations from a national qualitative study. National Drug Research Institute, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia. ISBN: 978-0-9942806-4-0 [R306] Download PDF

Pienaar, K., Moore, D., Fraser, S., Kokanovic, R., Treloar, C. and Dilkes-Frayne, E. (2017). Diffracting addicting binaries: An analysis of personal accounts of alcohol and other drug 'addiction'. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, 21, (5), pp. 519-537. doi:10.1177/1363459316674062 [RJ1167] View web page

Treloar, C., Pienaar, K., Dilkes-Frayne, E. and Fraser, S. (2017). Lives of Substance: A mixed-method evaluation of a public information website on addiction experiences. Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy. pp. 1-8. doi:10.1080/09687637.2017.1397602 [RJ1370] View web page

Pienaar, K., Fraser, S., Kokanovic, R., Moore, D., Treloar, C. and Dunlop, A. (2015). New narratives, new selves: Complicating addiction in online alcohol and other drug resources. Addiction Research & Theory, 23, (6), pp. 499-509. doi:10.3109/16066359.2015.1040002 [RJ1067] View web page