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Young people’s involvement should lead to research, and ultimately services, that better reflect young people’s priorities and concerns. Young people with a history of treatment for alcohol and/or drug problems were actively involved in the youth social behaviour and network therapy study. The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of that involvement on the study and what was learnt about involving young people in drug and alcohol research.

The initial plan was to form a young people’s advisory group (YPAG), but when this proved problematic the study explored alternative approaches in collaboration with researchers and young people. Input from 17 young people informed all key elements of the study.

Involvement of young people needs to be dynamic and flexible, with sensitivity to their personal experiences. Engagement with services was crucial both in recruiting young people and supporting their ongoing engagement. This research identified a need to critically reflect on the extent to which rhetorics of participation and involvement give rise to effective and meaningful involvement for young service users. It also highlights the need for researchers to be more flexible in response to young people’s personal circumstances, particularly when those young people are “less frequently heard”.

This research highlights the need for researchers to be more flexible in response to young people’s personal circumstances, particularly when those young people are “less frequently heard”. It highlights the danger of young people in drug and alcohol research being unintentionally disaffected from involvement through conventional approaches and instead suggests ways in which young people could be involved in influencing if and how they participate in research.

There is an apparent contradiction between dominant discourses and cultures of health services research (including patient and public involvement) that often do not sit easily with ideas of co-production and young people-centred involvement. This paper provides an alternative approach to involvement of young people that can help to enable more meaningful and effective involvement.

The flexible and young people-centred model for involvement which emerged from this work provides a template for a different approach. This may be particularly useful for those who find current practice, such as YPAG, inaccessible.

To provide a summary of the principles, theories and basic components of a recently developed brief integrated motivational intervention (BIMI) for working with individuals experience co-ccurring severe mental health and substance use problems in inpatient settings, including the outcomes of a feasiblity randomised controlled trial (RCT). There are greater financial costs and a negative impact on functioning associated with psychiatric admissions for people who experience co-occurring severe mental heath and substance misuse problems. In addition, their engagement in treatment is often problematic.

The BIMI described was evaluated via a feasibility RCT that assessed whether the opportunity to discuss use of substances whilst on an inpatient ward represented an opportunity to engage inpatients in thinking about their use and the impact it has on their mental health.

The BIMI is delivered in short burst sessions of 15-30 minutes over a two-week period adopting a simple 3-step approach that can be delivered by routine ward staff. It incorporates an assessment of substance use, mental health and motivation followed by personalised feedback, a focus on increasing awareness of the impact on mental health and development of goals and a change plan. The intervention has been shown to lead to higher levels of engagement in clients exploration of substance use and the impact on mental health. Findings suggest both staff and inpatients found the intervention feasible and acceptable.

Routine ward staff were trained to deliver a brief intervention to inpatients during an acute hospital admission.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and delivery of an aftercare programme called Learning To Live Again, which was co-produced between service users and clinic staff.

In total, 37 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 project stakeholders who were service users, mentors, university and clinical staff. The data were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis.

Four overarching themes were identified in the analysis of interview data as characterising the process of co-producing an aftercare programme. These were: achieving common ground, roles and responsibilities, the activities programme and the road to recovery. Interdependence of service users and clinicians was given strong emphasis.

A number of challenges arise in co-producing an aftercare programme which is largely service user led and adds to the local recovery capital. The benefits of co-producing aftercare outweigh the difficulties and the programme can be set up within existing resources. Given the study's focus on the process of setting up and maintaining an aftercare programme, no attempt was made to evaluate the improvement in outcomes or cost-effectiveness.

Many peer-mentor-led aftercare programmes have been set up and this paper describes stakeholders’ thoughts about the challenges and benefits of co-producing an aftercare programme.

The purpose of this paper is to summarise the findings from two projects in Northern Ireland which investigated the feasibility of adapting an existing adult intervention, the 5-Step Method, for children affected by parental substance misuse and/or parental mental illness. The structured brief psychosocial intervention is called Steps to Cope and can be delivered as an individual or group intervention.

The two projects recruited and trained 57 practitioners from across Northern Ireland, 20 of whom went on to use the Steps to Cope intervention with a total of 43 children.

It appears possible to adapt the intervention for children; to train practitioners, some of whom are able to use the intervention with one or more children; and for the intervention to benefit children in line with the five steps of the intervention targeting areas such as health, feelings, information, coping, support, and resilience. However, there are organisational and practical barriers to delivery which need to be overcome for the intervention to be more widely implemented.

Steps to Cope is a unique intervention for this population and the findings discussed here suggest that the model has potential in an area where support for children in their own right is lacking.