Amy Winehouse Foundation Resilience Programme: 2020
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Amy Winehouse Foundation Resilience Programme: A summary of key findings from a 5 year evaluation 2020 1.0 Who we are Between 2014 and 2019, The National With specialist experience in working Lottery Community Fund supported the with credible peers in recovery who volunteer delivery of the Resilience Programme, their time, the Foundation aims to support, reaching out to over 300,000 pupils across inform and inspire vulnerable and 260 schools in England. The programme disadvantaged young people to reach their provided sessions to pupils, parents and full potential. Addaction is one of the UK’s carers, and teachers to support young leading drug, alcohol and mental health people to make healthier decisions about charities, providing assessment, support and alcohol and drug use and to manage peer treatment to people impacted by these pressure, self-esteem and risky situations. issues. Volunteers who were in stable recovery, who were free from alcohol and drug use, A team of researchers who specialised in were fully trained to support the delivery of developmental psychology and family and sessions. young person addiction who were based at the University of Bath and Harvard The programme was delivered in partnership University supported the partners to between the Amy Winehouse Foundation independently evaluate the programme. and Addaction. The Amy Winehouse Mobile and online technology was key to Foundation works to prevent the effects of support data collection. drug and alcohol misuse on young people. 1 2 1.1 The Resilience Deliveries for young people: Deliveries for teachers: Programme Approach • Life share sessions in schools assemblies Training workshops that focus on alcohol • Peer pressure, self-esteem and risky and drug education and awareness and situation management workshops its relevance for pupil safeguarding and referral pathways. The Resilience Programme placed young • 6 Skills4Change sessions for people at the heart of its approach. targeted support with informed life It achieved this in two ways: choices, wellbeing and resilience Intended outcomes: 1 The programme worked directly with 2 The programme worked with parents, Intended outcomes: • Increased knowledge about the effects young people to provide alcohol and carers and teachers to enable them to of alcohol and drugs on young people drug education and awareness sessions identify the signs that young people • Improved knowledge and an increase in alcohol and drug awareness • Greater confidence to identify signs through school assemblies and might be engaging in risk behaviours that of problematic substance use classroom workshops. These focused could lead to alcohol or drug use. It also • Greater confidence to make informed on peer pressure, self-esteem and emphasised the importance of having decisions about substance use • Greater confidence to have conversations with pupils about managing risk situations. Where more informed conversations with young • For young people who engaged in substance use focussed support was necessary, young people, so that they could be supported Skills4Change, the intended outcomes • Greater confidence to implement people could also engage with the six and to enable them to access help if also included an increase in resilience and mental wellbeing safeguarding protocols and referrals sessions offered within the necessary. for pupils within schools Skills4Change programme. These reinforced education and awareness The Resilience Programme worked in ten and provided support on approaches to established Addaction sites in England, which included 260 schools and local making positive life choices and Deliveries for parents and carers: Engagement with volunteers: healthier decisions, optimising mental partner relationships. Sessions were delivered to over 300,000 young people. wellbeing and on becoming resilient, Alcohol and drug education and Training programme, volunteer supervision despite life’s challenges. The diagrams opposite outline what the awareness sessions. for session deliveries and support for programme deliveries were and cite the professional development. intended outcomes for each beneficiary group. Intended outcomes: Intended outcomes: • Increased knowledge about the effects • Increased confidence, improvement of alcohol and drugs on young people in self-efficacy • Greater confidence to identify signs of • Increased skills to take up training, problematic substance use education, employment and further • Greater confidence to talk with volunteering opportunities children about alcohol and drugs • Continued engagement in recovery • Improved knowledge about accessing support for children, parents and carers. 3 4 The Amy Winehouse Foundation Resilience The delivery teams consisted of a specialist Programme provided universal and alcohol and drugs practitioner, a volunteer targeted alcohol and drugs education to coordinator and programme volunteers who pupils in secondary schools in England. The were in recovery and represented ‘credible universal education took place through: peers’. Within the Resilience Programme structure, volunteers were recruited and i) assembly deliveries which comprised ‘life graduated to become a member of the delivery shares’ and interactive discussions. The life team through an accredited ten session training shares were the credible peer’s personal programme. In addition to being central stories, that focused on their thoughts, members of the teams, volunteers were also feelings and behaviours throughout their invited to participate in the evaluation of the journeys into stable recovery. Volunteers Resilience Programme. It was anticipated that engaged in training and supervision the skills and experience developed through throughout and the content they discussed participation in the Resilience Programme would was carefully planned to ensure it was age contribute to increased readiness for further appropriate and educational. volunteering, training, education and employment opportunities. To promote ii) smaller classroom workshops that focused consistency and programme fidelity across sites, on peer pressure, risky behaviour and the delivery was guided by a practice manual. self-esteem in the context of alcohol and drug use. Where pupils identified themselves, or were Pupils: identified formally through referral processes in Life-share schools as potentially being at risk of being assemblies impacted by substance misuse, they had a choice, Pupils: Parents: following assessment, to participate with Self-esteem, Information peer pressure & I get so much feedback from young people targeted support. This was offered to eligible session & risk behaviour sign posting workshops pupils in schools through the six session saying how approachable we are. We have Skills4Change Programme and/or via one-to- Resilience seen an increase in young people engaging one support through a substance misuse Programme Teachers: Components in community services following our treatment organisation in the local area. Training Pupils: sessions & Skills4Change The Resilience Programme also delivered parent school sessions sessions too. At the end of the day, this is support sessions and training workshops to teachers to what it is all about. That is why I love my job. promote knowledge, awareness and the You are out and about in schools,working confidence to communicate with pupils about Volunteers: Pupils: alcohol and drugs, especially if there was concern Training Onward referral programme, for support with young people, their teachers and that a young person might be at risk of being supervision & when support necessary impacted by substance misuse. their families. Programme Coordinator 5 6 2.1 Resilience Programme 2.0 Evaluation Team A summary of the Key Findings Between 2014 and 2019, an evaluation was the mobile App and online technology for conducted by a small team of researchers. the programme evaluation. The outcomes During this time, Professor Haste was based that were identified from the evaluation are at Harvard University and Professor Richard summarised in the rest of this briefing Joiner and Claire Hannah-Russell were document for each of the programme based in the Department of Psychology at beneficiary groups. the University of Bath. Dr Sean Radford, a medical doctor and IT specialist, provided 7 8 Fig. 1: Immediate delivery of the 2.2 Young Person Outcomes Resilience Programme More than 80,000 young people took part in Pupils also told us that they were more the evaluation. For school-based alcohol and confident about safer decision making and drug education programmes, this is one of the felt better able to manage situations that largest programmes to have been delivered involved risks in the context of potential externally and evaluated through a charitable exposure to alcohol and drugs. partnership in England. The majority of young The Randomised Trial: Following the 36% of pupils people in the schools said they achieved the feedback from a large sample of young people, said they used alcohol and intended outcomes of the programme. a more detailed look at young person feedback 4% of pupils was conducted to explore whether young Pupils told us that their knowledge and said they used drugs people reported a change in substance use general awareness had increased after they before taking part in the programme regardless as to whether they engaged in the participated in both the assemblies and the 75% Resilience Programme or not. We randomly workshops that explored peer pressure, self- allocated