Relations Study Data, 2021-2022

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These data were generated as part of a three-year ESRC-funded ethnographic research project examining the care of parents who use drugs and their families, with a focus on governing practices and relations between different actors in the field. The study included mothers and fathers in drug treatment programmes, prescribed opioid substitution therapy (OST) and their families, as well as health and social care practitioners and services involved in the care of parents and families. There are TWO empirical data sets: a Parent/Family data set (122 files) and a Services/Professionals data set (183 files). Another data set contains the study materials (25 files). A metadata file lists all the file names, ID codes and participant descriptors included in the collection. Two separate files list the ID codes, pseudonym names, and descriptors of participants (parents and professionals) and services. PARENT/FAMILY DATA SET: This set of 122 text files contains interviews and fieldnotes with parent participants, their children and families. This includes data related to: 27 parents (18 mothers and 9 fathers). Fourteen parents (9 mothers, 5 fathers) were living in Scotland and twelve (8 mothers, 4 fathers) were living in England. In addition, one family member took part, a cohabiting female partner from Scotland. Eleven mothers and two fathers were single parents (living alone, with or without their children), twelve were co-habiting and one was ‘part-time’ co-habiting. Of the single parents, 6 out of 11 mothers and one father reported regular contact and coparenting/child visiting arrangements with a non-resident parent, and several parents were part of blended families where the mother, father, or both had children from previous relationships. Some co-habiting parents reported that their partner was also in drug treatment, and some said their partner did not use drugs or have problems related to their alcohol and drug use. CHILDREN: The study parents reported having a total of 75 children: 53 were aged 0-16yrs and 22 were aged over 16yrs. Of the 53 children aged 0-16yrs, 24 were living with the parent participants, seven were living elsewhere with the biological mother, ten were living with the biological father, six were in foster care, five in kinship care and one had been adopted. Some of the 22 older children were living at home with the parents but many had also been adopted, fostered or raised by kinship carers, and the whereabouts of some children were unknown. Four parents in the study were first-time parents (three were pregnant at the time of recruitment) and four parents were also grandparents. PROFESSIONALS/SERVICES DATA SET: This set of 183 text files contains fieldnotes, interviews and focus groups with 10 different health and social care services (6 teams in England, 4 teams in Scotland) and 97 professionals (36 from England, 61 from Scotland). Services included: Drug Treatment (NHS & Third Sector), Child Protection (Social Services), Family Support (Third Sector services) and Specialist Pregnancy Support (NHS & Social Services). Professional participants included: NHS Addiction Psychiatrists and Nurses, Addiction Psychologists, Health Visitors, Hospital and Community Midwives, General Practitioners, and Community Pharmacists; Local Authority Children and Families Social Workers, Kinship Care staff, Public Health and Criminal Justice staff; Third Sector Children and Family Support workers, Youth workers, Women’s workers, Criminal Justice Drug workers and Affected Family Member Support Services; and Local Commissioners and Governmental Policymakers for Children & Families and Drug Treatment services. STUDY MATERIALS DATA SET: This set of 25 text files contains the study protocol, ethical approval letters, and blank consent forms, participant information sheets, participant details sheets, and focus group, ‘workday debrief’ and interview schedules.

WHY DID WE CONDUCT THIS STUDY? Children and families affected by parental drug use include some of the most disadvantaged families in society. For example, parents often have severe health and social problems, live in poverty, and their children frequently end up in the care system. Parents and families are often stigmatised and excluded from mainstream society and do not always receive the right kind of treatment and family support. These problems can be repeated from one generation to the next. Improving their lives is therefore a key goal for health and social care services as well as for government. Many countries (including the UK, Australia, USA and Canada) have established ways of working with families affected by parental drug use. However, there is wide variation in these policies and practices. There is little knowledge of how they operate in practice (within and across different agencies) and how they impact on children and families. There is a need to look at how the whole system works from a family perspective. Our study aimed to do this by looking at how parental drug use is managed in practice by interviewing, observing and spending time with parents and families as well as health and social care service providers to understand more about how the system works. WHAT DID THE STUDY INVOLVE? First, we set up a Learning Alliance to involve members of the public in the study. The Learning Alliance included parents who use drugs, kinship carers and young people affected by parental drug use as well as frontline practitioners, service managers, and policymakers. The Learning Alliance helped the study team to plan the research and to focus on what was important for families and services. The Learning Alliance also considered our emerging findings and made suggestions about what could be done in response to the findings. Second, we recruited 27 parents from 22 different families into the study (18 mothers and 9 fathers). Twenty-six parents were prescribed opioid substitution therapy (OST) for the treatment of opioid dependence, such as methadone, buprenorphine or dihydrocodeine. Many were also prescribed other drugs and/or reported polydrug use. The researchers interviewed parents and spent time with them to try and find out what day-to-day life is like for parents and their families, including their social networks, sources of support and the nature and extent of their engagement with services. The researchers observed families interacting with service providers and explored how systems of care had an impact on families. Third, we enrolled 10 different health and social care services and 97 professionals into the study, including practitioners, managers, and policymakers from a wide range of health, social work, third sector and government agencies. The researchers interviewed staff and observed what professionals and services do, including different aspects of practice with families, such as interagency and multidisciplinary meetings, parenting interventions, assessments and care planning for families. Researchers explored different models of care and their impact on parents, families, professionals and services. Lastly, we examined policies and practice guidance related to the treatment and care of parents who use drugs and their families to see how policies were interpreted and employed across different contexts. The researchers focused on how assumptions and theories in policy affect professional practice and the way parents who use drugs are treated. WHAT WERE THE BENEFITS OF THE STUDY? The study aimed to help a range of people and agencies in different ways. For example, the findings may benefit parents who use drugs and their families because it will help to show how practices and policies could be improved to better meet their needs. It may benefit professionals, services and policymakers by offering new insights into how systems of care may or may not be benefiting the people they seek to help. Findings could also help academics develop new interventions to help parents who use drugs and their families.