tracking youth substance use in swansea dr steve case
DESCRIPTION
Youth substance use in Swansea Limited evidence of the extent and nature of substance use by year olds in Swansea No standardised database or data collection process Self-report substance use inventory (SUI) would inform the development, targeting and evaluation of local substance use prevention and treatment strategies and services Fits with WAG policy documents such as Hidden Harm (2006), the All Wales School Liaison Programme (2005), the All Wales Youth Offending Strategy (2004)TRANSCRIPT
Tracking youth substance use in Swansea
Dr Steve Case
The context: HYPE• Helping Young People through Peer Education• Programme developed in two Swansea
secondary schools since 2004• Train peer educators to provide information and
support• Partnership between Swansea Substance Misuse
Action Team, Swansea YOT, South Wales Police, secondary schools and Swansea University
• Anecdotal evidence of effectiveness from young people participants
Youth substance use in Swansea• Limited evidence of the extent and nature of
substance use by 10-17 year olds in Swansea• No standardised database or data collection
process• Self-report substance use inventory (SUI) would
inform the development, targeting and evaluation of local substance use prevention and treatment strategies and services
• Fits with WAG policy documents such as Hidden Harm (2006), the All Wales School Liaison Programme (2005), the All Wales Youth Offending Strategy (2004)
The inventory technology
• Administered using ‘Leapfrog’ package• Responses entered using bluetooth handsets • ‘Family Fortunes’ style voting pads• Multiple simultaneous completion• Immediate download into Excel• ‘Anonymous’ and Confidential
Longitudinal tracking of youth substance use
• Never conducted in the UK• All year eight pupils in purposive sample of four
Swansea secondary schools• Annual administration in December• Self-report inventory of substances• 700-800 pupils per year• New year eight intake added each year• Access and permission facilitated by existing
working relationships and data sharing protocols between partner agencies
Proposed analysis• SPSS descriptive analysis of patterns and trends
in youth substance use• SPSS inferential analysis of between- and within-
group differences in the extent and nature of substance use and the use of specific substances
• Year two onwards – consult with colleagues as to appropriate statistical package for storing and analysing the longitudinal data
• PhD studentship – co-ordinate SUI and supplement with qualitative measures