Our research

Whether it’s building on the evidence base or developing practice based evidence, we believe our responsibility is to share our learning for the benefit of everyone who uses our services.

If you don’t find what you’re looking for, have ideas on how we can improve the resources available, or wish to share your own, then please do not hesitate to get in touch."

Dr Prun Bijral, Medical Director, Change Grow Live

Change Grow Live's Research Team works at both local and national levels to connect, learn and act to reduce health and social inequalities in communities. They do this by:

  • Collaborating with people and organisations inside and outside of the sector, including the workforce and those not accessing services.
  • Working with academic partners to conduct and support robust research into new practices, treatments, and the most effective ways to reduce harm.
  • Developing evidence-based practice and ways of working which benefit the people we serve and those who work with them.

The principles that guide this work include:

  • To actively seek out seldom heard and diverse voices
  • To collaborate
  • To challenge orthodoxy
  • To innovate and experiment
  • To have a direct impact on communities

Below is a compilation of the team’s most recent published work, often in collaboration with academic partners and other organisations. Many of these articles are open access. Where this isn’t the case, please reach out to the team at [email protected].

Latest research

‘Why don't we just build it in a square hole?’: Developing a multi-component drug outreach service for young people aged 16-25 in England

In England, the rise in drug use coincides with a decline in specialist outreach and support services. Substance use provision particularly neglects young adults. This paper traces the origins of the multi-component ‘1625 Outreach’ model and how it was developed and refined.

 

Bridging the gap: Reflections on the development and implementation of an ADHD assessment pathway in a community drug and alcohol service

This article describes the development of an ADHD assessment pathway in a community drug and alcohol service for service users in the criminal justice stream. It includes reflections on challenges and onwards recommendations.

 

Tackling hospital service burden of alcohol dependence in England: a service evaluation of alcohol care teams (ACTs) and care pathways for integrated care

Chronic alcohol disorder hospital admissions are increasing in England. The aim of this study was to identify in what ways hospital-based alcohol care teams can be effective in improving care pathways for complex care in a whole-system health and social care setting.

 

“I would never go to the doctor and speak about steroids”: Anabolic androgenic steroids, stigma and harm’

This paper explores the concept of stigma related to people who use anabolic-androgenic steroids when accessing healthcare services. Although these services provide essential support, various barriers – including stigma – exist, which can limit engagement with them.

 

“You Could Try This Compound, but it Might Send You nuts”: How Steroid Suppliers Perceive the Underground Market and Their ‘Hybrid’ Role within It

The illicit manufacture and use of image and performance enhancing drugs have increased. This study aims to provide insights into how suppliers perceive demands within the current underground market, and their roles within it, amidst evolving cultural narratives.

 

Providing holistic end-of-life care for people with a history of problem substance use: a mixed methods cohort study of interdisciplinary service provision and integrated care

People who use substances often require support from multiple health and social care services which are shown to be poorly integrated and fail to deliver interdisciplinary care. This study aims to identify the barriers and facilitators within and between services in providing this population with a good death.

 

Superiority and cost-effectiveness of Individual Placement and Support versus standard employment support for people with alcohol and drug dependence

IPS is a specialist intervention to help people attain employment. IPS has been developed in severe mental illness and other disabilities; this is the first superiority trial to evaluate effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of IPS for people with alcohol and drug dependence.

 

‘Sustaining masculinity’: a scoping review of anabolic androgenic steroid use by older males

Recent studies have indicated the presence of an older cohort of men who use anabolic-androgenic steroids in comparison to previous years. This scoping review of the extant literature maps and describes what is known about the use of these substances by men aged over 40.