RisKit - Early Intervention with Young People
RisKit is an innovative programme developed by the Kent Drug and Alcohol Action Team, KCA and the University of Kent in collaboration with young people themselves. It targets young people aged between 14 and 16 years old who are vulnerable to risk taking behaviours.
RisKit takes place in schools contributing to the Healthy School Enhancement model. The programme targets those identified as vulnerable or involved in risk taking behaviours, which could include drug and alcohol use, unsafe sex and fighting. It aims to help young people to build their skills and resilience and explore the reasons why they might take risks in order to help them make the right choices for them.
But what is really pulling in interest, is that part of the pilot includes a rigorous evaluation process. The results are anticipated to be very positive and are due to be released at the end of July 2011.
Jo Tonkin, Young Persons' Commissioning Manager, KDAAT explains how the pilot began.
"For many years I've been concerned that drug and alcohol use amongst young people should be tackled as part of wider risk taking behaviours. Speaking with colleagues I found that many were very supportive of this approach; with this I was able to put together a case for piloting a completely new programme.
I was also very keen on having substantial evidence to verify the success of any new intervention. There are many early interventions but few, if any, are backed by solid research. I really wanted to be able to show concrete results".
Jo quickly brought on board KCA, a substance misuse and mental health organisation who currently provide young persons' services in Kent, Jo continues,
"KCA was keen to get involved as the pilot's premise reflected what their workers were seeing in practice and how they were already changing their interventions. KCA's group work with vulnerable young people was highlighting a recurring theme - a need for greater levels of support."
Over the next few months the University of Kent took the lead, reviewing international research literature, interviewing stakeholders and working directly with young people to develop a relevant and effective programme.
Alex Stevens, Professor in Criminal Justice, University of Kent explains their initial findings "It soon became obvious that young people were really concerned about the risks of drugs, alcohol, sex and fighting. They knew a lot about the dangers of these behaviours. But they wanted help to learn how to avoid and reduce them. So, by using the evidence on effective prevention, we developed a programme to help them examine and understand how they felt in situations and how best to deal with those feelings. This really fits in with our growing understanding of adolescence. Young people need safe environments to test their knowledge and to learn how they can cope with the risks that life presents to them."
The programme was then developed by the three partner organisations and other key groups, such as Healthy Schools who strongly backed the project, and RisKit was born.
RisKit is formed of several components, including screening and recruitment through the Adolescent Risk Behaviour Screen (ARBS), group work and one-to-one sessions with trained KCA young persons' practitioners who create links between the young participants and outside agencies who can continue to support them. The programme concludes with a six-month follow-up to evaluate the progress and support continuation of risk reduction.
Steve Butler, Young Persons' Service Manager, KCA explains why the programme seems to work so well.
"The feedback from workers has been immensely encouraging. Workers can see the young people changing and the positive feedback really gives the team a sense of achievement and purpose. This is not just at the end of each programme but six months down the line, when they go back to find out how all the young people are getting along. RisKit really helps young people achieve more in all aspects of their life.
RisKit gathers quantitative data through a timeline follow-back questionnaire on alcohol and drug use. The questionnaire records the levels of drug and alcohol use of each participant. Data on young people's engagement in the criminal justice system and attendance at schools has also been analysed.
The University of Kent are launching the full evaluation in Maidstone on the 21st July. Alex Stevens is very positive about the future.
"The evidence base for RisKit is very positive. The general pattern is for young people's drug and alcohol use to increase during the ages 14 to 16. In contrast, we have seen encouraging reductions among participants in the RisKit programme. This suggests that this model is effective in reducing risk taking behaviour. We now plan to do a full randomised trial to test the model further. "
The future of RisKit looks bright. Jo Tonkin is certainly keen to spread the word, "the evaluation event is an excellent opportunity for our colleagues to gain an in-depth understanding of why this partnership approach delivers such excellent and wide ranging results".
Posted 11 August 2011