Search results

This study aims to explore the experiences of living through the COVID-19 pandemic for people who faced homelessness and dealt with mental health and/or substance use challenges.

This qualitative study was comprised of 26 1:1 interviews (16 men and 10 women), conducted between February and May 2021 with people who experienced homelessness in North East England during the COVID-19 pandemic. An inductive reflexive thematic analysis was undertaken, with input from individuals with lived experience who were involved throughout the study.

Four themes were developed. The first theme, lack of support and exacerbation of mental health and substance use difficulties, highlighted how the lack of in-person support and increased isolation and loneliness led to relapses or new challenges for many people’s mental health and substance use. The second theme, uncertainty and fear during the pandemic, explored how the “surreal” experience of the pandemic led to many people feeling uncertain about the future and when things would return to normal. The third theme, isolation and impacts on social networks, discussed how isolation and changes to relationships also played a role in mental health and substance use. Finally, opportunity for reflection and self-improvement for mental health and substance use, explored how some people used the isolated time to re-evaluate their recovery journey and focus on self-improvement.

The experiences shared within this study have important implications for planning the future delivery and commissioning of health and social care services for people facing homelessness, such as sharing information accessibly through clear, consistent and simple language.

As one of the few papers to involve people with lived experience as part of the research, the findings reflect the unique narratives of this population with a focus on improving services.

The review aims to facilitate a broader understanding of platform opening and cooperation and points out potential research directions for scholars.

This study searches Web of Science (WOS) database for relevant literature published between 2010 and 2021 and selects 86 papers for this review. The selected literature is categorized according to three dimensions: the strategic choice of platform opening and cooperation (before opening), the construction of an open platform (during opening) and the impact of platform opening and cooperation (after opening). Through comparative analysis, the authors identify research gaps and propose four future research agendas.

The study finds that the current studies are fragmented, and a research system with a theoretical foundation has not yet formed. In addition, with the development of platform operations, new topics such as platform ecosystems and open platform governance have emerged. In short, there is an urgent need for scholars to conduct exploratory research. To this end, the study proposes four future research agendas: strengthen basic research on platform opening and cooperation, deeply explore the dynamic evolution and cutting-edge models of platform opening and cooperation, analyze potential crises and impacts of platform openness and strengthen research on open platform governance.

This is the first systematic review on platform opening and cooperation. Through categorizing literature into three dimensions, this article clearly shows the research status and provides future research avenues.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUDs) amongst young people in the criminal justice system (CJS) in the North East of England and to compare the ability of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) to the Youth Justice Board ASSET tool in identifying alcohol-related need in Youth Offending Team (YOT) clients.

A validated screening tool (AUDIT) was used to identify alcohol-related health risk or harm. Findings from AUDIT were compared with those of the standard criminogenic risk screening tool used in CJS (ASSET). An anonymous cross-sectional questionnaire was administered during a one-month period in 2008. The questionnaires were completed by 11-17-year-old offenders who were in contact with three YOTs, one Youth Offending Institution and one Secure Training Estate.

In total, 429 questionnaires were completed out of a possible 639 (67 per cent). The majority (81 per cent) of the young offenders were identified as experiencing alcohol-related health risk or harm and 77 per cent scored within a possibly alcohol-dependent range. In total, 77 (30 per cent) of young people completing both assessments were identified as having an AUD by AUDIT but not identified as needing alcohol-related treatment using ASSET.

This research was confined to one geographical area of England, however, the results show that even in this area of high drinking by young people the levels of AUDs amongst young people in the CJS are very high.

There are major social implications to this research. It is imperative for changes to be made to the care pathways in place in the UK for young people coming through the CJS with alcohol-related issues.

This paper adds to the evidence base by using well-validated tools to measure alcohol use amongst young people in the CJS in the UK.