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‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care

Timothy Piatkowski Orcid Logo, Luke Cox Orcid Logo, Nick Gibbs, Luke Turnock, Matthew Dunn

Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy, Volume: 32, Issue: 5, Pages: 461 - 469

Swansea University Author: Luke Cox Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/09687637.2024.2352442

Abstract

BackgroundDrug 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 subs...

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Published in: Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy
ISSN: 0968-7637 1465-3370
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70014
first_indexed 2025-07-21T15:48:09Z
last_indexed 2026-01-24T05:32:10Z
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spelling 2026-01-23T11:44:18.3409726 v2 70014 2025-07-21 ‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care 9811ac84cad867903c385bf7086dfd2d 0000-0001-7625-4603 Luke Cox Luke Cox true false 2025-07-21 EAAS BackgroundDrug 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.MethodTen 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionEmbodying a model of peer-driven knowledge exchange and emphasising open and inclusive discourse IPED coaches offer a vehicle toward integrated harm reduction strategies. Journal Article Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy 32 5 461 469 Informa UK Limited 0968-7637 1465-3370 Harm reduction; image and performance enhancing drugs; injecting; negotiated safety; steroids 3 9 2025 2025-09-03 10.1080/09687637.2024.2352442 COLLEGE NANME Engineering and Applied Sciences School COLLEGE CODE EAAS Swansea University 2026-01-23T11:44:18.3409726 2025-07-21T16:45:25.3657787 Faculty of Science and Engineering School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences Timothy Piatkowski 0000-0002-6177-0266 1 Luke Cox 0000-0001-7625-4603 2 Nick Gibbs 3 Luke Turnock 4 Matthew Dunn 5 70014__34820__d6a25153a0b647b08c77af83c62aa59c.pdf 70014.pdf 2025-07-21T16:48:01.7211846 Output 390950 application/pdf Accepted Manuscript true Author accepted manuscript document released under the terms of a Creative Commons CC-BY licence using the Swansea University Research Publications Policy (rights retention). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en
title ‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
spellingShingle ‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
Luke Cox
title_short ‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
title_full ‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
title_fullStr ‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
title_full_unstemmed ‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
title_sort ‘The general concept is a safer use approach’: how image and performance enhancing drug coaches negotiate safety through community care
author_id_str_mv 9811ac84cad867903c385bf7086dfd2d
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9811ac84cad867903c385bf7086dfd2d_***_Luke Cox
author Luke Cox
author2 Timothy Piatkowski
Luke Cox
Nick Gibbs
Luke Turnock
Matthew Dunn
format Journal article
container_title Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy
container_volume 32
container_issue 5
container_start_page 461
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 0968-7637
1465-3370
doi_str_mv 10.1080/09687637.2024.2352442
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchytype
hierarchy_top_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofscienceandengineering
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Science and Engineering
department_str School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Science and Engineering{{{_:::_}}}School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Sport and Exercise Sciences
document_store_str 1
active_str 0
description BackgroundDrug 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.MethodTen 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.ResultsThe 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.ConclusionEmbodying a model of peer-driven knowledge exchange and emphasising open and inclusive discourse IPED coaches offer a vehicle toward integrated harm reduction strategies.
published_date 2025-09-03T05:31:43Z
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score 11.095902

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