We asked you, our readers, to tell us a little about yourselves and what you think about Drugnet Ireland.  We sent out 1,780 short survey forms and freepost reply envelopes with the Spring issue.  The response rate was lower than we had hoped –  we received  227 (13%) completed forms.  Thank you to all of you who took the time to complete and return the questionnaire.  What we learned from your replies will influence our decisions about the content and development of Drugnet Ireland.

Key survey findings

We received forms from respondents working in a wide variety of occupations and settings.  Seventeen categories of workplace were represented; the highest number of responses came from local drugs projects or community-based services (25%), followed by drug treatment centres (19%).

We explored readers’ preferences.  The areas in which people had the most interest, and would like covered in more depth, were: social consequences, treatment, health consequences and problem alcohol use.  One new topic suggested by a small number of readers was ‘user involvement’.  In previous issues of Drugnet Ireland, we have summarised research conducted by user groups and will continue to do so in the future. 

We ascertained the readers’ experience of Drugnet Ireland (see Figures):

• 93% reported that Drugnet Ireland was an important source of information on the drugs situation in Ireland.
• 91% found that the content was relevant to their work.
• 34% often discussed the contents with their colleagues, while more than half (57%) occasionally discussed the contents.
• 46% reported that the detail of articles was adequate, although 45% reported that articles can be too detailed.
• Almost all respondents (99%) reported that the presentation of articles was clear.
• 88% found the use of graphics and tables was helpful; however, 10% found them confusing at times.

We also asked how often regular features in Drugnet Ireland were read and whether information from these features was used in work.  There were many missing answers for the latter question (over 40%) but both sets of answers followed a similar pattern.  The items ‘In brief’, ‘New publications’ and ‘Upcoming events’ were read ‘often’ by over 65% of readers.  Around two-fifths of respondents said that they used the information in these features in the course of their work. 

Finally, we asked how respondents would prefer to receive the newsletter.1

• 54% of respondents are aware that an electronic version of Drugnet Ireland exists. 
• 4% read the electronic version. 
• 32% of respondents would prefer the electronic version to the print one.

 1. An electronic version of Drugnet Ireland is available on the National Documentation Centre on Drug Use website, www.drugsandalcohol.ie  A PDF version is on the Health Research Board site www.hrb.ie.