Mathew Jones

Young People's Involvement in a Substance Misuse Communications Campaign.

There is growing emphasis in public policy on involving young people in the development of health promotion campaigns and information resources on substance misuse. To date there has been little literature that explores the level and nature young peoples involvement in such initiatives. This paper reports on an evaluation of a substance misuse communications campaign that sought to involve young people in the project process and the production of locally focused media products. The findings from this study indicate potential benefits in terms of the production of credible and locally appropriate messages on substance misuse. It also found that there were wider benefits associated with the promotion of young peoples citizenship and participation in local service delivery. Young peoples involvement needs to be understood as part of a process across a range of different types of activities. Participation by young people vulnerable to substance misuse may contribute to agendas on inclusion and targeted welfare, however it requires a high level of commitment by local agencies and strategic authorities. The key to realizing young peoples potential is the use of experienced facilitators, well-informed advisors and dedicated media experts who can work alongside young people in a range of settings within their communities.

Framing youth: Reviewing locally commissioned research on young people, drug use and drug education

Observing the considerable growth in the research of children and young people (Wyn and White, 1997; Christensen and James, 2000), a number of sociological commentators have drawn attention to the organisational and cultural conditions under which such research has been produced. Coles (2000) suggests that a review of ‘youth research’ can reveal as much about policy agendas, social concerns or the research process as it does about young people themselves. For example, research on young people has been employed to respond to moral panics, legitimate political agendas or contain public controversy (ibid.). Decisions with regard to research questions, the focus of inquiry and channels of dissemination are often shaped by dominant cultural representations of youth. These representations have tended to frame young people as, for instance, ‘troubled’, ‘in trouble’, ‘at risk’, ‘less rational’ or ‘delinquent’ (Jeffs and Smith, 1998; Miles, 2000). A common element to such representations is that young people are set apart from children and adults (Griffin, 1993), and characterised as being in a state of ‘becoming’ rather than ‘being’ (Wyn and White, 1997). In their review Jeffs and Smith (1998, p. 55) have contested these representations of young people: nThere can be no denying that some young people experience problems, but in these areas the question is whether the ‘problem’ is better approached as a ‘youth question’ or as an experience shared by people across a span of ages. When we come to look at ‘teenage pregnancy’, ‘youth homelessness’, ‘youth drug-taking’ and so on, few of the pertinent dimensions of experience relate to any inherent qualities of ‘youth’.

Commissioning Drug Services for Vulnerable Young People

This paper examines commissioning processes for drug services in the case of vulnerable young people. In the context of governments modernization agenda it characterizes drug service commissioning as an activity that should occur across professional boundaries in health, social care, local authority and crime agencies. A case-study approach draws attention to a number of difficulties including the lack of evidence base on which to form policy and policy change and the over-riding attention of agencies upon process rather than outcome. It recommends a multi-agency approach to discharge joint commissioning more effectively and begin incremental change to services. Development of a knowledge base with monitoring and performance evaluation systems must become priorities to inform future commissioning and decommissioning of drug services for vulnerable young people.

The practitioner as policy analyst: a study of student reflections of an interprofessional course in higher education

Health and welfare practitioners in the United Kingdom have experienced and continue to experience considerable turbulence as services and occupational boundaries undergo restructuring. To a significant extent such turbulence is driven by policies that promote interprofessional agendas. This paper reports on an evaluation of a higher education programme that adopted a social policy approach to the analysis of interprofessional working. The retrospective views were sought of nursing, midwifery, social work and community and youth work post-qualifying students with use of semi-structured questionnaires and focus groups. Although difficulties were encountered with the political science focus to the programme, overall the participants very positively evaluated the opportunity to engage in policy analysis in a shared learning environment. Given the highly politicised, complex and shifting environment of interprofessional working, it is suggested that the study lends support to the argument that policy acumen is a central skill for contemporary health and welfare practitioners. The paper, therefore, starts to explore issues of particular relevance for educationalists involved in developing frameworks for interprofessional programmes particularly in higher education.

Whole school food programmes and the kitchen environment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the impact of the Food For Life Partnership (FFLP) whole school food programme on kitchen staff employment and professional development.Design/methodology/approach – This exploratory research involved baseline and follow‐up interviews with 74 kitchen staff (51 primary and 23 secondary English schools) enrolled onto the FFLP programme. Empirical data were collected using a semi‐structured questionnaire between 2007‐2010 with an average of 20 months between baseline and follow‐up. Data were collected on the perceived programme impact on school cook professional experience and employment and their role in health promotion.Findings – Numbers of kitchen staff and mean job satisfaction grew. Kitchen staff reported significant investment in their kitchen environment. They felt a greater degree of involvement and broader integration with the rest of the schools educational mission. However, towards the end of their involvement, kitchen staff became increasingly ...

Implementing the Rock Challenge: Teacher Perspectives on a Performing Arts Programme.

The Rock Challenge is a school‐based performing arts programme that that aims to promote healthy lifestyles amongst secondary school students. This paper reports on teacher perspectives on the implementation of The Rock Challenge in nine English schools. This study highlights how performing arts programmes, such as The Rock Challenge, are unlikely to have a simple relationship between guidance and practice in spite of their being popular and sustainable.