Voices of Young People: Experiences of drugs and alcohol

Research Team

• Professor Sharon Grace
• Dr Sam Hinrichs

Overview

Very little research about young people’s use of drugs and alcohol is directly informed by the voices of the young people themselves. This study set out to explore young people’s experiences with drugs and alcohol across North Yorkshire with a central aim to inform service development through listening to what young people said they wanted and needed when they ask for help.

Thirty young people aged 14-17 currently engaged with drug treatment services were interviewed for the study, augmented by interviews with thirteen frontline practitioners. Interviews centred on patterns and reasons for use, motivation for quitting, asking for and receiving help, and ideas to improve services. This information will inform potential approaches for improving support for young people.

Key Findings:

• Motivations for continued use of drugs or drink often centred on managing complex feelings or alternatively was about being bored, with nothing else to do.
• A realisation that their substance use was harming others was the key reason to quit.
• Other reasons for quitting included the cost of the drugs or alcohol; the fact that it had stopped being fun; that it was making them ill; or interfering with their future goals.
• Very few young people had actively sought help themselves from a drug service emphasising the importance of trusted adults in making appropriate referrals.
• Most young people were highly appreciative of the help they received from drug services, which they saw as non -judgmental, supportive and practically useful.
• Young people wanted to feel they were not being told what to do but were in control of working towards their goals.
• Young people also thought that more people should know about what help was on offer. Practitioners agreed and were supportive of a social media marketing campaign that centred young people’s voices.
• Practitioners were keen to see a dedicated space or hub where they could see young people, making them independent from schools. They thought that schools should be more open, facilitating and consistent in their engagement with drug and alcohol services.
• Both young people and practitioners saw benefits in resourcing activities such as walking as part of appointments.
• Contemporaneous, joint working with CAMHS was seen as crucial by practitioners, with an end to the practice of dealing with mental health and substance use as separate issues.

Recommendations:

This research demonstrates the value of listening to young people to gain insight into their reasons for using drugs and alcohol and to learn how best to support them in reducing the harms associated with that use. Specifically, the findings suggest that the following should be considered:

• Exploring opportunities to share the voices of young people captured in this research into local planning processes such as Local Plans to promote positive healthy recreation for young people as a way of reducing harmful substance use.
• Facilitating anonymous access to support services, widely advertised both in spaces young people frequent and through social media. This will ensure those needing help know how to get it and that those without a trusted adult to refer them can self-refer easily.
• Ensuring that all referrals made by adults are done so with the young person’s consent.
• Finding ways to leverage parental concerns to facilitate constructive and honest conversations about drugs and alcohol with their children.
• Focusing on drug and alcohol support that is non-judgmental, confidential and conducted at the young person’s pace and focused on their goals.
• Designing harm reduction messages for young people which are directly informed by them, their goals and their needs.
• Developing evidence-based universal early interventions alongside services for young people already in crisis.
• Allowing the first meeting between the young person and their drug and alcohol worker to be an opportunity for rapport and trust building, with any formal assessment delayed to later appointments.
• Supporting more flexible engagement with young people including activity-based and/or walking and talking style appointments.
• Engaging peers as positive role models in drug and alcohol services.
• Ensuring a consistent approach in all schools regarding referrals being made only with the young person’s consent; full facilitation of appointments with drug and alcohol workers at school; and avoiding exclusion wherever possible.
• Facilitating joint working through co-location of professional support services.

Associated research projects/ publications

Voices of Young People: Experiences with drugs and alcohol Report (PDF , 561kb)