Young People in Focus

Completed research

Home » Research » Completed research » Talking about difficult issues

COMPLETED

This work took place when Young People in Focus (YPF) was callled the Trust for the Study of Adolescence (TSA)

Talking about difficult issues: A Toolkit of information and resources on sexual health and substance misuse

Background

This project emerged from a concern expressed by those running group-based parenting courses in the youth justice system. This was that they often found it difficult to raise sensitive issues with parents on courses, particularly in relation to substance misuse and sexual health. This, in turn, was making it difficult to help parents to raise these issues with their children.

SA received grants from two funders (see below), to produce a ‘Toolkit’ of resources to help with this. The ‘Talking about difficult issues’ Toolkit was therefore produced to provide practitioners with information and resources that can help them to raise difficult issues with parents. The Toolkit can be used in a variety of settings, but is mainly designed for use on group-based parenting programmes.

The Toolkit

The Toolkit was produced following detailed consultation with parenting course facilitators. The Toolkit includes:

information and statistics on sexual health and substance
misuse
groupwork tools and activities
organisational resources
evaluation guidelines and materials.

The course facilitators used the Toolkit on their parenting courses, and then provided feedback to improve the Toolkit, prior to a final version being produced.

In January 2004, TSA was delighted to be awarded a new grant to support this project. We received funding from the Teenage Pregnancy Unit to professionally publish and disseminate the Toolkit to all YOT and related staff. The Toolkit is now available through TSA’s Publications Department.

Staff and funding

The original project was funded by grants from the Home Office’s Drug Prevention Advisory Service (DPAS), and the south-east region of the Teenage Pregnancy Unit. The project was the responsibility of Debi Roker and Lester Coleman.

More information:
Please contact Young People in Focus
Email: info@youngpeopleinfocus.org.uk
Tel: 01273 693311

January 2006