Engagement and outcomes of marginalised young people in an early intervention youth alcohol and other drug program: The Street Universities model (original) (raw)
Related papers
2018
I would like to extend my gratitude to everyone who has contributed to the completion of this thesis. I would like to thank the academic and administrative support staff at the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI), Curtin University for providing a professional and instructive research environment. This research was also made possible through the support of an ORD-NDRI Scholarship. I am very grateful to receive the scholarship which was vital during fieldwork and intensive writing periods. A special thank you goes to the current and former staff from NDRI's Melbourne office. Thank you also to Fran Davis, Paul Jones and Jo Hawkins for their administrative and IT supportof which I greatly benefited. Particular thanks go to my primary supervisor, Suzanne Fraser. Suzanne has dedicated considerable time to attending to my written work, while continuing to encourage me to critically reflect on the ideas and approaches I encounter.
Harm Reduction Journal
The meaningful inclusion of young people who use or have used drugs is a fundamental aspect of harm reduction, including in program design, research, service provision, and advocacy efforts. However, there are very few examples of meaningful and equitable engagement of young people who use drugs in harm reduction, globally. Youth continue to be excluded from harm reduction programming and policymaking; when they are included, they often face tokenistic efforts that lack clear expectations, equitable work conditions, and are rarely afforded agency and autonomy over decision-making. In this commentary, we identify and discuss issues in youth engagement, and offer recommendations for the future of harm reduction.
The experience of drug-dependent adolescents in a therapeutic community
Drug and Alcohol Review, 2010
Introduction and Aims. Drug treatment programs for adolescents are now more widespread with some evidence of success. However, there has been little in-depth exploration of factors that may encourage or hinder program completion. This ethnographic study of an adolescent therapeutic community aimed to provide insights into the experience of the adolescent residents. Design and Methods. Four months of participant observation at a program for drug-dependent adolescents in a metropolitan city in Australia. Twenty-one residents (15 boys and six girls) aged between 14 and 18 years participated, comprising all residents admitted during the study period. Results. Vocational Education and Art Therapy are activities that universally engaged residents whereas frustration was evident in Journaling-a core program activity. Group sessions were often used to set up or dismantle social cliques, although they were also useful to expose difficult inter-personal relationships.The risk of residents 'taking off' was heightened during breaks from program activities when strong emotions surfaced. Discussion and Conclusions. There needs to be a more central role for creative and vocational activities in adolescent programs and a variety of ways for them to document their journey. Group encounters need to be skilfully facilitated by staff to handle fluid inter-personal dynamics and residents need support outside of formal program time to minimise drop-out. The concept of a navigation-engagement continuum is discussed and the need to see treatment as a series of encounters that may be 'successful' despite 'non-completion'.This study gives adolescents a voice in program evaluation which may help improve retention. [Foster M, Nathan S, Ferry M.The experience of drug-dependent adolescents in a therapeutic community.
Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 2000
Objective: To inform planners by providing a psychosocial and drug-use profile of adolescents who have applied for a drugtreatment program. Method: The setting was a residential drug-treatment program in Sydney for adolescents from NSW and the ACT. The design was a descriptive study of consecutive program applicants over 18 months. Study participants were 14-18 years, 53% were male. Most assessments were telephone interviews. The instrument incorporated the Opiate Treatment Index, Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis, Severity of Dependence Scale and Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Results: Study participants tended to be poly-substance users, mostly using cannabis, heroin and/or alcohol. Heavy use in terms of frequency and amounts of use were reported, e.g. 50% of the sample used heroin daily and the mean number of standard drinks consumed on the last day of drinking was 18. High levels of problems in the areas of social functioning, criminal activity, psychological distress, physical health, HIV risk and substance dependence were reported. For example, most participants were unemployed and 88% had committed a crime in the previous month. Higher rates of some problems were identified among females, heroin users and benzodiazepine users. Conclusions: The sample reported a high level of involvement in substance use and associated problems. The profile suggested that improvements might be difficult to achieve and to maintain. Implications: A comprehensive, intensive, longer-term drug-treatment program to address the number and extent of substance-related problems for such adolescents is recommended.
Drug and Alcohol Review, 2010
Introduction and Aims. Drug treatment programs for adolescents are now more widespread with some evidence of success. However, there has been little in-depth exploration of factors that may encourage or hinder program completion. This ethnographic study of an adolescent therapeutic community aimed to provide insights into the experience of the adolescent residents. Design and Methods. Four months of participant observation at a program for drug-dependent adolescents in a metropolitan city in Australia. Twenty-one residents (15 boys and six girls) aged between 14 and 18 years participated, comprising all residents admitted during the study period. Results. Vocational Education and Art Therapy are activities that universally engaged residents whereas frustration was evident in Journaling—a core program activity. Group sessions were often used to set up or dismantle social cliques, although they were also useful to expose difficult inter-personal relationships. The risk of residents ‘taking off’ was heightened during breaks from program activities when strong emotions surfaced. Discussion and Conclusions. There needs to be a more central role for creative and vocational activities in adolescent programs and a variety of ways for them to document their journey. Group encounters need to be skilfully facilitated by staff to handle fluid inter-personal dynamics and residents need support outside of formal program time to minimise drop-out. The concept of a navigation-engagement continuum is discussed and the need to see treatment as a series of encounters that may be ‘successful’ despite ‘non-completion’. This study gives adolescents a voice in program evaluation which may help improve retention.[Foster M, Nathan S, Ferry M. The experience of drug-dependent adolescents in a therapeutic community. Drug Alcohol Rev 2010;29;531–539]
Time to Get it Right: Responsive and effective services for marginalised young people, 2024
This report and the Best Practice Framework for engaging marginalised young people comes at a time when the nation (Australia) is clutching at straws; implementing a range of increasingly punitive measures that do nothing to address the drivers of youth crime and too few investments in initiatives that enable marginalised young people to overcome their early life disadvantages. The purpose of the best practice framework is to outline the range of service attributes that improve the relevance and quality of service provision for marginalised young people, including those with experiences of mental health problems, alcohol and other drug (AOD) abuse. It is envisaged that this framework can be used to: • guide service design and delivery of services to all young people, and particularly those marginalised and not served by current mainstream service offerings, • educate staff and stakeholders about the range of interconnected skills, knowledge, attributes and service design features that underpin effective and engaging service delivery for marginalised young people, • inform advocacy initiatives and support applications for funding, by including reference to cited literature and research that details quality service provision for marginalised young people, and • provide a framework for evaluating service effectiveness and opportunities for improvement.