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Despite advances in understanding the structural contexts in which drug use occurs and shifts beyond the individual-level focus of adult education theory, peer education models remain wedded to questions of individual behaviour. Our analysis examines the structural context of peer education and its implications for peer training. People who inject drugs (PWID) were invited to participate in a series of three focus group discussions in order to develop peer education messages and strategies. These were then trialled by participants within their networks and their experiences discussed in subsequent focus groups. The influence of structural factors (such as the policing of public space) on participants' peer education attempts were identified and discussed. We propose that despite the damaging impact of structural factors on the lives of PWID, they can in turn be used by peer educators to develop innovative interventions designed to increase resilience and reduce internalized stigma. Peer education programmes need sufficient flexibility and resources to allow for the negotiation of participants' immediate needs and for collaborative learning between PWID and peer educators. This would require an informed and responsive funder-a challenge to the current orthodoxy wherein peer education is increasingly delivered in formats predetermined by the funder.

Aims: Prevention education has had limited success in reducing transmission of blood borne virus among people who inject drugs. Innovative approaches to prevention education are required. Method: This study used video recordings of injecting episodes and interviews with participants reviewing their video recordings to explore the concept of mindlessness as a new tool for prevention education. Findings: The data demonstrate elements of mindlessness in participants' injecting practice. Participants were unable to provide detailed description of their practice, could not recall the origin of their practices, described limited sensitivity to the environment around them and described learned behaviours 'dropping out of mind'. Conclusions: Although potentially useful as a prevention tool, prevention messages using mindlessness concepts should be developed in collaboration with injecting drug users to avoid judgmental or alienating messages. Finally, the use of these video recordings themselves can be a powerful education tool given the very hidden and stigmatized nature of injecting drug use.

Peer education programs emphasize training in communication skills but provide little direction on training content. This research examines the specific strategies used by people who inject drugs (PWID) when engaging peers in education to promote safer injecting and to prevent the transmission of blood-borne viruses. People who inject drugs (PWID) participated in a series of three focus groups to develop peer education messages and strategies which they then trialed in their networks. Participants' strategies for peer education were profoundly shaped by concerns about not offending or challenging others' perceived social status. Some participants preferred only to influence others' injecting practice using nonverbal strategies, such as modeling safer practice. Although peer education may be based on the notion of a shared social status among PWID, these results demonstrate the heterogeneity of social relations existing within networks of PWID. PWID trained as peer educators require a repertoire of communication skills to be deployed in appropriate circumstances.

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