Young people, cannabis and family life

Joint briefing with the Research Unit for Health, Behaviour and Change (RUHBC)This briefing reports on a study of the role of cannabis in young people's lives during their early teenage years. Interviews explored cannabis-related beliefs and behaviour of young people aged 13-15 within the context of their everyday lives

Cool with Change: young people talking about support

Many children living in Scotland experience significant changes in their family circumstances in the course of their childhood. The most common such change is when parents decide to live apart but a small proportion of children lose a parent because of death, or experience long term absence of a parent for some other reason, or experience dramatic change as refugees or asylum seekers. Change is typically upsetting at first particularly when it is unanticipated and dramatic and it is always upsetting when it involves a sense of loss. Most young people are able to cope and get on with their lives once they get used to new arrangements, but many acknowledge that some extra help and support might have been and might be useful. The Cool with Change research project seeks to understand more about young people’s perspectives on what kinds of support, both formal and informal, are helpful. This briefing complements Research Briefing 26 which focuses on children and young people’s experience of family change

Cool with Change: Young People and Family Change

Cool with Change breaks new grounds by combining in-depth research of young people’s experience of family change in Scotland, reflection by service providers on the implications for their services and consultation with young people about possible future development of support services

Cool with Change: young people and family change

This research briefing reports on interim findings from a study which seeks to understand more about young people's perspectives on what kinds of support are helpful to them

Archetypal trajectories of social, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing and distress in family care givers of patients with lung cancer: secondary analysis of serial qualitative interviews

Objective To assess if family care givers of patients with lung cancer experience the patterns of social, psychological, and spiritual wellbeing and distress typical of the patient, from diagnosis to death

Piloting a new approach in primary care to identify, assess and support carers of people with terminal illnesses:a feasibility study

BACKGROUND: General practices in the United Kingdom are encouraged to have a protocol for the identification of carers and a mechanism for social care referral. However, a minority of carers are identified and those caring for someone with a terminal illness often cope until the situation becomes overwhelming. Earlier identification could enable more timely support. The aim of this project was to model and pilot a systematic approach to identify, assess and support carers of people with supportive and palliative care needs in primary care. METHOD: The intervention was modelled on the Medical Research Council complex intervention framework with a preliminary theoretical phase, which has been reported elsewhere. In this study, which lasted 12 months, four general practices were recruited. Each practice identified a ‘carer liaison’ person to take the lead in identifying carers, followed by assessment and support using a toolkit modelled from the earlier phase. Qualitative evaluation interviews were conducted with carers who had received the intervention and the carer liaisons and general practitioners in the pilot practices. A stakeholder event was held to disseminate and deliberate the findings. RESULTS: The practices’ populations ranged from 5840 to 10832 patients and across the four practices, 83 carers were identified. Thirty six carers were identified from practice registers (disease - 16; palliative care - 9; carer - 11; advanced care plan - 12), whilst 28 were identified opportunistically by practice staff at appointments or at home. Seven carers self-identified. Overall, 81 carers received the carer pack and 25 returned the Carer Support Needs Assessment Tool (CSNAT) form. Eleven carers received a follow up call from the practice to discuss support and 12 were also referred/signposted for support. Qualitative interviews suggest carers valued connection with their practices but the paperwork in the toolkit was onerous. CONCLUSION: This approach to identifying and supporting carers was acceptable, but success was dependent on engagement within the whole practice. Carers did not tend to self-identify, nor ask for help. Practices need to proactively identify carers using existing opportunities, resources and computer systems, and also adopt a public health approach to raise carer awareness and perceived support within their communities

Palliative care: End-of-life symptoms

Gregory B. Crawford, Katherine A. Hauser, and Wendy I. Janse