£500k grant boost for RISUP drugs awareness project

£500k grant boost for RISUP drugs awareness project

A project to help reduce drug use among young people led by the University of Huddersfield is moving into its next stage thanks to a grant of nearly £500,000.

RISUP - Reducing Illicit Substance Use Project - is one of four projects to be allocated part of a £1.8million fund by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).

Led by Dr Chris Retzler and Professor Michael Doyle, and collaborating with a number of partners including the University of Leeds, the University of Manchester and Kirklees Council. Phase 2 builds on earlier work that has devised interventions that aim to support young people to assess risks, provide relevant skills, make more informed decisions and reduce their drug use.

These interventions include educational resources for use in schools, a one-to-one intervention for young people who are already using illicit substances and a public health campaign. The interventions were based on existing literature and a consultation with young people and other stakeholders in Phase 1.

Project collaborates with local schools and services

Phase 2 will involve assessing the feasibility of these interventions, by taking the educational resources into a number of schools in the Kirklees area, using the one-to-one intervention at drug and alcohol service for young people The Base, Kirklees, and developing the public health campaign with local schools and youth groups.

"Research by the Office for National Statistics has shown that, following a long-term decline, the use of recreational drugs such as cannabis, powdered cocaine, ecstasy and nitrous oxide is increasing in young people," says Dr Retzler.

"There has been little research around how to successfully reduce demand, so our project has developed interventions to target the important transition to high school and then throughout the school years."

Dr Chris Retzler

Senior Lecturer in Psychology, Department of Social and Psychological Sciences

Member of The Centre for Cognition and Neuroscience

This second of three phases will see a feasibility assessment of the three interventions developed in phase 1, to assess whether such interventions help young people, change behaviours and reduce the demand for drugs.

Helping young people make more informed choices

The educational materials (aimed at 11- to 14-year-olds) provide schools with teaching materials and activities which target skills such as resilience and decision making, which will help them deal with illicit substances and adolescence in general.

The second intervention is a manual for health practitioners working with young people who use drugs on a one-to-one basis, offering a structured plan that tackles early warning signs, mental health issues, increasing risk awareness and more.

The third intervention is a public heath campaign aimed at 11 to-14-year-olds that addresses misconceptions about drug use and promotes reliable sources of information. This will be co-produced with young people themselves.

"This is a feasibility stage so that we understand what works, who it works for and in what contexts" Dr Retzler adds.

"Collaboration with young people and our partners is crucial to this project, Kirklees Council, the other universities, the schools, the local NHS trust and local charities are absolutely key and we could not do any of this without their knowledge and expertise."