Ketamine misuse in Blackpool: A Creative Health approach
The Mobilising Community Assets team at UCL and NCCH are leading an investigation into the increasingly common issue of ketamine misuse, in collaboration with Blackpool Council and the University of Liverpool.
Flagged as part of the MCA Coastal Communities & Creative Health project, Ketamine misuse has been highlighted by many health and community professionals across Blackpool as a growing problem which is escalating at an alarming rate; with increased media attention raising awareness and concerns.
The research involves conducting a rapid systems mapping exercise to map all of the different services, assets and organisations who are tackling this issue. The idea is to understand the main drivers and effects of misuse amongst the Blackpool youth with a view to co-producing place-specific community-led prevention strategies to support young ketamine users and to address the wider determinants of health influencing their health behaviours.
We have been gathering and analysing interview data from a range of services and providers across Blackpool who are supporting ketamine users, including: Blackpool Victoria Hospital, Blackpool Council Public Health, drug & alcohol support services, Lancashire Constabulary and other local community support services.
Early findings reveal that Ketamine has become the “drug of the moment”. Its popularity is driven by affordability, accessibility, and social reinforcement among peers. Despite young people’s awareness of the severe harms caused by Ketamine misuse, risk-taking persists. Some of the harms mimic UTIs, leading to misdiagnosis and missed early intervention opportunities by GPs in Primary Care. One respondent from a drug and alcohol support service commented: “There’s a girl that works here, and she has a family member using [ketamine] and she said that all her mates just think it’s normal to wear a nappy”
Our research shows that young people have a distrust of services and there is a perception that current services are not fit for purpose in relation to supporting the complex adverse physical and psycho-social effects of ketamine misuse. Stakeholders acknowledge that ketamine misuse is closely linked to trauma, care experience, and social vulnerability. This indicates a need for trauma-informed approaches and updated models of managing addiction that reflect complex, non-linear pathways.
This study is providing much evidence of the need for an alternative approach; all interviewees critique the inadequacy of conventional interventions and advocate for alternative approaches.
Young users and support services have highlighted the need for more lived experience to be integrated into the design and delivery of a ketamine-specific harm reduction strategy. Intelligence gathering and cross-sector collaboration should play a critical role in developing a solution to this complex issue. We need to promote "clumsy solutions", i.e. incorporate multiple perspectives and approaches, even if they are not perfectly elegant or efficient.
“Our initial findings make it clear that the rising use of ketamine among young people demands a coordinated, multi-sector response. Crucially, young people must be at the centre of shaping solutions; only by listening and working with young people with lived experiences will we begin to address the realities they face and co-create meaningful, lasting change.” Dr Elaine McNeill, Arts-Based Health Researcher, UCL.
Interviewees in our study have highlighted the need for creative, youth-centred, and co-produced interventions that embed the lived experience of ketamine users, their friends, family members, and carers. We believe this approach must recognise the importance of trust, relational work, and meaningful engagement through enjoyable and therapeutic activities.
Prof Helen Chatterjee, Mobilising Community Assets Programme Director, who is leading the study, is from Blackpool originally: “Many coastal communities, such as Blackpool, face significant challenges in tackling the complex and interlinked issues which cause significant inequalities. As a Blackpudlian, it’s heartbreaking to hear evidence from people supporting young ketamine users about the serious harm caused by misusing ketamine, and their feelings of frustration about the lack of a unified strategy or approach for supporting ketamine addiction. We advocate for a multi-agency ‘Creative Health’ approach to tackling ketamine misuse, that places people with lived experience and creativity at the heart of designing ketamine specific prevention and intervention strategies.”
The work is being undertaken as part of a collaboration between 3 research initiatives: Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities, Coastal Communities and Creative Health and Blackpool Researching Together.
Helen and the team recently submitted evidence about harm from ketamine in response to a UK Government enquiry.
For further information contact: Prof Helen Chatterjee, UCL, Email: h.chatterjee@ucl.ac.uk
Mobilising Community Assets to Tackle Health Inequalities (MCA) programme, MCA is a three-phase UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded Research Programme running from 2021 to 2027. It is coordinated by the Culture-Nature-Health Research Group at University College London, in partnership with the National Centre for Creative Health (NCCH) and funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), led by Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), with Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Medical Research Council (MRC).
