Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET)

Evidence Review 3 - Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) Briefing 3 - Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) This pair of documents, commissioned by Public Health England, and written by the UCL Institute of Health Equity, examine how to help young people into employment, education or training. They describe the relationship between being NEET and health; inequalities in prevalence of being NEET; and the scale of the problem. The papers show that being NEET, particularly for prolonged periods, is associated with negative effects on health and a range of other outcomes. Furthermore, the chances of becoming NEET are not equally or randomly distributed throughout society – those who are relatively disadvantaged, from poor backgrounds, or who have had negative experiences at school are more likely to spend some time being NEET. The papers also propose actions that can be taken at a local level in order to reduce the proportion of young people who are NEET. There is good evidence on what works in order to enable and support young people to enter employment, education and training. Taking action to reduce NEET levels is both possible and necessary – both to ensure young people have opportunities, and also as an important way to improve public health and reduce inequalities. The full evidence review and a shorter summary briefing are available to download above. This document is part of a series. An overview document which provides an introduction to this and other documents in the series, and links to the other topic areas, is available on the ‘Local Action on health inequalities’ project page. A video of Michael Marmot introducing the work is also available on our videos page.

Building Children and Young People's Resilience in Schools

Evidence Review 2 - Building children and young people's resilience in schools Briefing 2 - Building children and young people's resilience in schools This pair of documents, commissioned by Public Health England, and written by the UCL Institute of Health Equity, address the role of schools in building children and young people’s resilience and capabilities. They provide a summary of evidence about the effect of resilience on health, the unequal distribution of resilience and its contribution to levels of health inequalities. The review outlines the potential actions that can be taken in schools in order to build resilience for all children and young people and reduce inequalities in resilience. Throughout, a social determinants approach to resilience is taken. Children and young people’s individual characteristics are seen as shaped by, and related to, inequities in power, money and resources, and the conditions in which they are born, grow, live, and in which they will work and age. Family and community resilience are highly significant and similarly shaped by wider social and economic factors. The full evidence review and a shorter summary briefing are available to download above. This document is part of a series. An overview document which provides an introduction to this and other documents in the series, and links to the other topic areas, is available on the ‘Local Action on health inequalities’ project page. A video of Michael Marmot introducing the work is also available on our videos page.

Improving young people's health and wellbeing: a framework for public health

The Framework has been developed as a resource to enable local areas in the delivery of their public health role for young people. It poses questions for councillors, health and wellbeing boards, commissioners, providers and education and learning settings to help them support young people to be healthy and to improve outcomes for young people. This is a new framework, which has been developed with support from Association of Young People’s Health and with input from those across health, education, youth services and local and national government.

A Mind of their Own. A Qualitative Study of Drug Education from a Young Person's Perspective: Exploring their Experiences, Views and Opinions

The main aims of the research are to explore young people's experiences and opinions of drug education and to discover whether it is, in their opinion, meeting their needs. The study was conducted with twenty young people aged fifteen to nineteen years in two towns in North County Dublin. The principal school teachers from three secondary schools in the area were also interviewed. The findings reveal there is a lack of planned drug education in the schools mainly, according to principal school teachers, due to timetable constraints. Another key finding is the need expressed by the young people for accurate and balanced drug education. The study also shows that there is a conflict between young people's negative opinion of teachers as drug educators and that of the literature and research, which identifies teachers as the most appropriate drug educators. In view of these findings the following recommendations are recommendations are suggested. Firstly, the role of teachers as drug educators needs further research. Secondly, the Substance Abuse Prevention Programme needs to be extended to include the over fifteen year's age group with a harm reduction/safety module as part of the programme. Thirdly, the Social, Personal and Health Education as a core subject needs to be fully implemented in the schools. Finally, the inclusion of young peoples' views in the form of a 'reference' or 'representative' group in each school would be a positive recommendation. This would give young consumers of drug education programmes some input into drug policy within the schools they attend.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

A Prevalence Study of Drug use by Young People in a Mixed Suburban Area

This report aims to determine the levels and patterns of drug use, including tobacco and alcohol, among young people in the Kilbarrack area. Questionnaires were sent to students from all primary and secondary schools in the target area, and were also sent to young people in the area who had already left school. The survey showed that 24% of respondents had smoked tobacco at some stage in their lives, with 25% listed as current smokers. Older students reported higher tobacco use, with over 40% of 16-18 year olds currently smoking. Alcohol was the drug most widely used by respondents, with 76% of all students having taken it at some stage in their lives. Prevalence of current alcohol use was higher in older children, with 84% of 16-18 year olds currently drinking as opposed to 61% of 13-15 year olds and 17% for 10 to 12 year olds. Cannabis was the most widely used illicit drug, with 37% of respondents using the drug at some stage. The next most widely used drug was inhalants, with 16% having used them at some stage, with 6% having used cocaine at some stage in their lives; the same proportion had used it within the last 12 months. There little or no significant evidence of heroin use. The report recommends prevention programmes that ensure that young people have other things in their lives other than alcohol/ drugs, such as a comprehensive range of properly resourced sporting and youth work in the community.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

A Report from a Local Initiative Concerning Alcohol / Drug Use Among Teenagers 1998-1999

This study was carried out by participants in a North Tipperary Community Services drug/alcohol awareness course. Its objectives were to: assess the level of drug and alcohol awareness among second-level students under the age of 18 years; to find out the extent of under-age drinking;to find out the extent of the use of illegal substances as well as stimulants such as glue and solvents in this age group; and to use this information to develop educational programmes for parents and students. Date was obtained through a survey of 1500 secondary school students in the North Tippeary area. The survey found that, although ilict drug use was very low, abuse of alcohol was quite common.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

A Study of Drug Prevention Services for Young People

To investigate the range and utilisation of community based drug prevention services using the Belfast Youth Development Study data, along with in depth interviews and documentary analysis. It is hoped the research will inform local policy.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Report Against Drugs- an action plan to combat substance abuse in Longford.

The Forum for Longford was started in 1997 to provide a co-ordinated inter-agency approach to identify and help tackle social problems in Longford. A survey was carried out with 1,331 post-primary students to ascertain attitudes and behaviours towards alcohol, smoking and drug use. Of the pupils interviewed, 64% had taken an alcoholic drink at age 15 or younger; of these 73% had their first drink between the ages of 12 to 15. Of those that had experience of alcohol, 51% drank several times a week or daily. For smoking, 67% had smoked a cigarette; of these 8% smoked 5 or more daily. Of those that smoked, 47% began between the ages of 11 to 14. With regard to illegal drugs 27% had used cannabis, 20% had used inhalants, 10% hallucinogens, 9% amphetamines and 7.4% had used ecstasy. Following on form these findings, the report makes several recommendations, including the formation of a community task force, Garda/ neighbourhood watch response, schools prevention and information. Also among these key areas are the role of parents, the needs of young people and facilities for young people.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

A Study on Health Behaviours and Young People

Numerous reports have documented the health status of young people, concluding that the main threats to their health are predominantly the health risk behaviours and choices they make. Focussing on four of these, alcohol consumption, tobacco smoking, illicit drug use and sexual activity, this study seeks to assess their levels among a group of young people in Galway City with the aim of helping with the development of Health Education in these areas. In order to develop appropriate interventions, it is first of all necessary that accurate information on the extent of the problem, if any, be available. In 1989, studies on risk taking were carried out in the Muirhouse and Easterhouse areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland. These areas were seen as underprivileged and had high and low rates of HIV infection respectively. In 1993, a similar study was carried out in the Westside area of Galway, an area which is also seen as under-privileged with high rates of unemployment. In 1996, a follow-up to the 1993 survey was carried out. This study also attempted to determine if there was a relationship between the behaviours reported and socio-economic class. This study is a follow-up to the previous two, with the addition that it attempts to investigate whether any relationship exists between the provision of health education in schools and subsequent health behaviour patternsThis resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Vulnerable young people and drugs: opportunities to tackle inequalities.

This document presents executive summaries of pieces of research carried out under the auspices of a Department of Health funded research programme. The aim of the programme was to provide research based evidence that would underpin the development of high quality and effective interventions with groups of young people thought to be vulnerable to developing drug misuse problems. The focus of the initiative was to inform primary and secondary drug prevention strategies and other opportunities to intervene. The background to each project, methodology used and findings are presented.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Inequality and the stereotyping of young people

Recent research published by the Equality Authority highlights the ways in which a selection of teenagers believe they are negatively perceived and treated by adults across Irish society. The report is based on focus group discussions with 90 teenagers during May and June 2005 and includes the views of young asylum seekers, travellers, people with disabilities and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth. Contact with the young people was facilitated through the National Youth Council of Ireland (NYCI). The report also includes findings from a case study of stereotyping of young people in the Irish media.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Young People's Health in Great Britain and Ireland: Findings from the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children (HBSC)Survey, 2006.

This report presents data from the 2006 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey; a World Health Organization (WHO) collaborative cross-national study and focuses on data collected from young people in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. It expands on the findings from the international report Inequalities in Young People's Health (Currie et al, 2008), with additional variables and prevalence rates that allows more comprehensive and focussed comparisons to be made between the four countries.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Reducing young people's drinking

This series of Good Practice Guides is designed to share important information about health inequalities and some of the evidence-based measures that can be taken to reduce the stark differences in health and wellbeing within populations. The conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age can lead to health inequalities the unfair and avoidable differences in health status. Actions to tackle health inequalities demand the efforts of government, statutory organisations, and community, voluntary and private sectors. This Good Practice Guide to reducing young people's drinking is one of a series designed to capture information about health inequalities and highlight evidence-based interventions and key actions for improvement across sectors.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Good Practice Guides: Reducing young people's drinking

Actions to tackle health inequalities demand the efforts of government, statutory organisations, and community, voluntary and private sectors. This Good Practice Guide to reducing young people's drinking is one of a series designed to capture information about health inequalities and highlight evidence-based interventions and key actions for improvement across sectors.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Psychosis with coexisting substance misuse: assessment and management in adults and young people.

This guideline offers best practice advice on the assessment and management of people with psychosis and coexisting substance misuse. Psychosis is a condition that affects a person’s mental state, including their thoughts, mood and behaviour. The symptoms of psychosis are:• hallucinations – hearing voices and sometimes seeing things that are not really there• delusions – having fixed beliefs that are false but which the person believes in completely. Substance misuse is a broad term encompassing, in this guideline, the harmful use of any psychotropic substance, including alcohol and either legal or illicit drugs. Use of such substances is harmful when it has a negative effect on a person’s life, including their physical and mental health, relationships, work, education and finances or leads to offending behaviour.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.