Women and health technologies

Joint briefing with the Research Unit for Health, Behaviour and change (RUHBC)As women approach midlife they become potential candidates for a range of health technologies. The study examined areas such as women's own assessments of the risks and benefits involved; the medical and informal knowledge women draw upon; and how social and cultural contexts and women's own agency affect these decisions

Feeding families and influences on healthy eating in Scotland: findings from a qualitative study

Joint briefing with the Research Unit for Health, Behaviour and Change (RUHBC)A series of policy documents in the 1990's highlighted the contribution of dietry factors to morbidity and mortality in Scotland. Primary care was identified as one setting where advice about diet and healthy eating may be effective. Less is known, however, about attitudes and practices relating to food and feeding in families. This qualitative study explored these issues with couples who had primary school children. This Research Briefing has been published jointly with the Research Unit for Health and Behavioural Change(RUHBC) at the University of Edinburgh and marks the start of their Research Findings series.This Research Briefing has been published jointly with the Research Unit for Health and Behavioural Change (RUHBC) at the University of Edinburgh and marks the start of their Research Finding series

Understanding Children's Lives: How children and parents experience and understand social and health inequalities

Children's differing social circumstances and experiences are part of the pathways implicated in health and illness in adulthood. However, children's own perspectives tend to be absent from adult-defined data about health and illness. Little is known about social and cultural processes in childhood; even less is known about children's own agency in making sense of and recreating the health cultures in which they grow up. This research into children's lives was developed to address such gaps in research, interviewing children and parents in two contrasting localities

'Joined up' thinking? Unsupported 'fast-track' transitions in the context of parental substance use

The extended dependence of many young adults on their parents, in a socioeconomic climate which disadvantages unsupported young people who leave education early, has been the focus of much research (Jones et al. 2006; Furlong et al. 2003). Some of this work has posited a polarisation in young adulthood between those whose extended transitions to adulthood are supported by their parents, and those negotiating unsupported or ‘fast-track’ transitions (Bynner 2001; Jones 2002) associated with higher levels of risk (Jones et al. 2006). Since 1997, in each of the constituent nations of the UK, the links between such ‘fast-track’ or unsupported transitions and social exclusion have come under a certain policy spotlight. Notably, the importance of difficulties associated with the transition from school to work has been highlighted, and, as discussed in this paper, particular concern, in Scotland and the UK as a whole, has centred on those who are ‘not in education, employment or training’ (‘NEET’) (Scottish Executive (SE) 1999, 2005a, 2005b, 2006b, National Assembly for Wales 2000, Social Exclusion Office (SEU) 2004, 2005, Cabinet Office 2006). Several aspects of this policy focus have been criticised, however. Notably, Yates and Payne point out that the emphasis on young people who are ‘NEET’ not only disguises the heterogeneity of this group, but also diverts attention away from others who, while not ‘NEET’, may also be living in very fragile circumstances (2006) or tracing ‘non-linear’ pathways between education and work (te Riele 2004). In addition, focusing on young people’s ‘occupational’ status may also implicitly disguise the critical importance of family support at this age and the vulnerability of those who lack family or other, including service, supports (Bell & Jones 2002; Jones et al. 2006; Walther et al. 2005)

Review of Research on Vulnerable Young people and Their Transitions to Independent Living

A research review focusing on young people who have been looked after at home and those who have been looked after and accommodated by Local Authorities

Challenging childhoods: Young people's accounts of 'getting by' in families with substance use problems

Concern is increasing about children growing up in families where there are substance use problems but relatively little is known about the perspectives of the children themselves. We report on a qualitative study with young people who grew up in such families, exploring their accounts of their daily lives at home, school and leisure. We focus on the everyday interactions, practices and processes they felt helped them to ‘get by’ in their challenging childhoods, showing how the protective factors thought to promote ‘resilience’ were seldom in place for them unconditionally and without associated costs

Solo-Living in Scotland: Trends and issues

This first Research Briefing focuses on solo-living - that is the increasing trend towards one person households, and the personal and social implications of this trend for those at different stages of the lifecourse

Parents’ and children’s negotiations around health: the case of the HPV vaccine

In 2007, the Scottish Government announced an in-school vaccination programme for teenage girls to protect against cervical cancer. In Scotland a young person under the age of 16 is deemed to have the legal capacity to consent to health care and treatment in certain circumstances. This raised a number of issues with schools and parents about the programme and choices around the vaccination decision. This briefing examines research findings that explored parents’ and young people’s understanding of these issues prior to the introduction of the new vaccine