People In Scotland Research Articles

Building Recognition, Redistribution, and Representation in Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods: Exploring the Potential of Youth Activism in Scotland

This is a time of intersecting crises for young people in Scotland. More than a decade of austerity, the Covid‐19 pandemic, cost‐of‐living crisis, climate emergency, and ongoing global conflict all threaten youth security and create barriers to economic and civic participation. Alongside this, youth non‐participation is often framed as an individualised moral problem, diverting focus away from its structural causes. Evidence on youth activism suggests that young people are seeking new, creative spaces and modes of expression to challenge stigma, express dissent, and challenge inequalities in their communities. With support from grassroots youth and community organisations, youth activists can build trust, critical thinking skills, and solidarity. However, the extent to which youth activism can succeed in challenging structural causes of inequality, especially in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, requires further scrutiny. We draw on Nancy Fraser’s theory of participatory parity to explore how redistribution, recognition, and representation play out in the lives of young people, and how grassroots youth and community organisations support their development as activists. Based on a research study on the barriers and enablers to youth activism in Scotland, we seek to understand how neighbourhood‐based efforts to challenge stigma and economic inequality build dignity and hope, how relationship‐building between young people and the adults in their communities can support status recognition, and how these both contribute to emergent youth political representation.

Visions of peace: Exploring how Scottish youth understand and define peace

AbstractIn this article, we report on a study that explored how young people in Scotland understand and define peace. A total of 59 young people aged 12–18, from three schools (independent, state Roman Catholic, and state non-denominational) participated in this study. The young people were asked to participate in a peace data walk and, after that, to draw or paint pictures of what peace means for them in their local community and beyond. We utilize a combination of Personal Meaning Mapping, visual content analytic procedures, and visual art coding scheme to analyse the pictures. We drew on Critical Peace Education as an overarching framework to approach data collection and on the Peace Education Curricular Analysis framework to examine the presence of positive peace elements in youth drawings/paintings. Previous research in different contexts suggests that youth find it difficult to conceptualize peace, whereas it appears to be easy to explain war and negative peace (i.e., absence of war). Previous research conducted in Scotland showed that the curriculum focused on the element of wellbeing, with many other positive peace elements being either absent or not well represented. By contrast, youth in our study showed a strong understanding of positive peace, with a particular emphasis on the following facets: peace zone, eco mind, wellbeing, peace bond, and social justice. In our conclusion, we discuss these findings in relation to Scottish education policies and ways of capitalizing on this method of engagement and overall findings to support youth learning about peace.

Survey on barriers to psychiatrists' use of clozapine for young people in Scotland and suggestions for reducing these.

The Mental Welfare Commission for Scotland published a report into the death of a young person, with recommendations for the Royal College of Psychiatry in Scotland Child and Adolescent Faculty; to explore if there were barriers to the use of Clozapine in young people in Scotland. A mixed-methods study was performed using a cross-sectional survey of clinicians working in child and adolescent psychiatry across Scotland, to determine attitudes towards clozapine use and the perceived barriers and facilitators to clozapine treatment. Results suggest that there may be a lack of clearly defined pathways within and between services, as well as a lack of resources provided for the necessary monitoring of a young person started on clozapine. Multiple respondents felt unskilled in clozapine initiation and had not accessed formal training. The most frequently mentioned themes for improving facilitation of clozapine prescription were that of increased resources and training. National policymakers including the Mental Welfare Commission, NHS Education for Scotland, and NHS Scotland should consider these findings to address the potential underutilisation of clozapine for people aged under 18 in services across Scotland. A review of current service provision should take place, with consideration of whether the facilitators to clozapine prescription which our study has highlighted could be implemented more effectively. This may help reduce identified barriers and increase clozapine prescription to those who would benefit from it, potentially improving outcomes for young people with treatment-resistant psychosis.

Educational trajectories for residential care experienced young people are complex. A lived experience perspective from a PhD study in Scotland

PurposeResearch highlights that residential care experienced children and young people in Scotland have poorer educational outcomes than their peers within the wider population. Despite this, poor educational attainment is not inevitable, and further research is needed to increase the understanding of long-term trajectories. This paper aims to address a gap in contemporary literature that is of benefit to practitioners, academics and policymakers. Despite experiencing adversity, attachment, separation and loss, school attainment data on leaving care only reflects part of the educational journey.Design/methodology/approachUsing a mixed methodology and social constructionist theoretical framework, a practitioner-led PhD study gathered data from questionnaires and qualitative information from 13 semi-structured interviews with young people who had experienced residential care in Scotland. Recruitment was through a gatekeeper within a national third-sector organisation. The educational trajectories for young people with experience of residential care in Scotland are complex. A lived experience perspective from a PhD study illustrates that statistical data only captures part of the journey and the author needs to reconsider how success is measured.FindingsOf the 13 participants in the study, 12 achieved success educationally, although for the majority of those interviewed, attainment continued after leaving compulsory education. Barriers to greater success included placement uncertainty and movement, stigma, low expectations, pressure to not become a statistic, procedural obstacles and inconsistency or poor relationships.Research limitations/implicationsSupportive relationships and stable placements can create circumstances conducive to effective learning, but evidence reflects that support is necessary throughout the life course if children, young people and adults with care experience are to reach their full academic potential.Originality/valueResearch into the educational outcomes for those with experience of residential care in Scotland is limited. This paper, from a PhD, provides lived experience accounts from a practitioner-led study.

School transition difficulty in Scotland and Ireland: a longitudinal perspective

ABSTRACT There is a large body of research exploring the difficulties young people experience on the transition to secondary education. However, there has been little comparative research yielding insights into how these experiences vary by institutional context. This article explores differences in school transition difficulties among young people in Scotland and Ireland using nationally representative longitudinal datasets – Growing Up in Ireland and Growing Up in Scotland. Despite generally making the transition with most or all of their friends, transition difficulties are greater on average in Scotland than in Ireland, perhaps reflecting the shorter duration of primary education in Scotland. In both systems, young people coming from households with lower levels of income and education experience greater difficulties and this gap is only partially accounted for by school experiences at primary and secondary level. An interesting feature is contrasting gender patterns in the two systems, with boys experiencing more difficulties in Scotland and girls more adjustment problems in Ireland. The male disadvantage in Scotland is partly explained by school experiences; the female disadvantage in Ireland is related to more negative attitudes to Maths at primary level than boys. Vocabulary development in middle childhood plays a stronger role in influencing ease of transition in Ireland, most likely because of the large number of (literacy-based) subjects students take on entry to secondary school. The article points to the potential for further comparative research on school transitions to better understand the dynamics in different contexts.

Anxiety, depression, working from home and health-related behaviours during COVID-19: Structural equation modelling and serial mediation of associations with angina, heart attacks and stroke.

Based on the vulnerability-stress model and coping theory, this study of 1920 people in Scotland investigated how sex, age, occupational factors, anxiety, depression and maladaptive coping behaviours are associated with cardiovascular health. Structural equation modelling and serial Sobel mediation tests were conducted. Anxiety was associated with past arrhythmia, whereas depression was associated with past heart attacks, stroke and angina. Females reported more anxiety, past arrhythmia, confectionary and alcohol consumption, whereas males had more heart attacks. Confectionary consumption was associated with past arrhythmia, and alcohol consumption was associated with past heart attacks. Being older was associated with depression, past stroke, arrhythmia and alcohol consumption. Being younger was associated with anxiety and smoking. Depression and smoking mediated the relationship between type of working and cardiovascular health history, potentially because of socioeconomic factors. Clinicians can use these results to advise clients about cardiovascular risks associated with anxiety, depression, demographics and health-related coping behaviours.

Exploring young people’s views of their local area related to the 20-minute neighbourhood policy: a national cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine how young people subjectively perceive their local neighbourhoods and compare these perceptions with objective data regarding access to amenities aligned with features of the 20-minute neighbourhood (20MN) policy. Objective data (n:287 aged 12-18 years) were gathered through an online adaptation of the Place Standard Tool for Young People in Scotland. Subjective data concerning access to ten amenities in line with the 20MN concept, along with crime statistics, area-level deprivation and urbanicity were spatially linked. The association between perceptions of localities and factors such as gender, as well as both subjective and objective neighbourhood assessments were examined. Young people were most satisfied with nature and active travel in their local area. Conversely, their satisfaction was lowest for active travel to school. Rural young people were more dissatisfied with their localities. Agreement was observed between satisfaction with their 20 neighbourhoods and objective data indicating the presence of frequent public transportation, recreational spaces, and access to services. In conclusion, our study highlights the importance of amenities in healthy urban planning, showing a positive impact on young people’s perceptions. Additionally, we uncover a connection between crime perceptions and area-level crime variables, potentially influencing health outcomes.

What are the autism research priorities of autistic adults in Scotland?

Although research has the potential to improve autistic people's lives, lots of funding goes towards research looking at topics which autistic people say has little impact in their everyday lives. Autistic people's lives can be different depending on where they live, and Scotland is a unique country in many ways. We wanted to find out which topics autistic people in Scotland want to see research on. Our team of autistic and non-autistic researchers (including university-based and community researchers) created a survey where 225 autistic adults rated and ranked the importance of possible research topics and shared their thoughts on what topics mattered to them. The five most important topics were mental health and well-being, identifying and diagnosing autistic people, support services (including healthcare and social care), non-autistic people's knowledge and attitudes and issues impacting autistic women. The three least important topics were genetics or biological aspects of autism, autism treatments/interventions and causes of autism. Our findings indicate that autistic people in Scotland want research to focus on things that matter to their day-to-day lives. Also, the Scottish government says they will be listening to autistic people in their latest policy plans, and we believe that considering autistic people's research priorities is an important part of this. Our findings also add to growing calls for change to happen in how and what autism researchers do research on.

Food insecurity in children and young people in Scotland.

The aim of this review is to highlight the key issues in relation to food insecurity among children and young people living in Scotland. It provides an overview of the current context of food insecurity more generally within the UK and specifically in Scotland. Food insecurity has risen in Scotland evidenced through responses to national surveys and the dramatic increase in households relying on emergency food provision. Food insecurity is highest among young people, single parent families and single men. The key drivers of food insecurity include insufficient income, welfare reform, food inflation and geo-political events. Evidence suggests that food insecurity is negatively related to sufficient nutritional intake, and the implications for physical and mental health are profound. Policy actions implemented to mitigate the impact of food insecurity on children and young people include the introduction of the Scottish Child Payment, food voucher schemes, free school meals, and holiday food provision. Further evidence is required to evaluate the success of these policies in reducing or mitigating food insecurity. The review concludes by considering the ways in which a rights-based approach to food might benefit children and young people living in Scotland, and argues that wider systemic change is required.

Targeted multi-analyte UHPLC-MS/MS methodology for emerging contaminants in septic tank wastewater, sludge and receiving surface water.

Septic tanks treat wastewater of individual houses and small communities (up to 2000 people in Scotland) in rural and semi-urban areas and are understudied sources of surface water contamination. A multi-analyte methodology with solid phase extraction (SPE), ultra-sonic extraction, and direct injection sample preparation methods was developed to analyse a comprehensive range of emerging contaminants (ECs) including prescription and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals and related metabolites, natural and synthetic hormones, and other human wastewater marker compounds in septic tank influent and effluent, river water, suspended solids, and septic tank sludge by ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The number of quantifiable compounds in each matrix varied from 68 in septic tank wastewater to 59 in sludge illustrating its applicability across a range of matrices. Method quantification limits were 2.9 × 10-5-1.2 μg L-1 in septic tank influent, effluent and river water, with ≤0.01 μg L-1 achieved for 60% of ECs in all three water matrices, and 0.080-49 μg kg-1 in sludge. The developed method was applied to a septic tank (292 population equivalents) and the receiving river in the North-East of Scotland. Across all samples analysed, 43 of 68 ECs were detected in at least one matrix, demonstrating the method's sensitivity. The effluent concentrations suggest limited removal of ECs in septic tanks and a potential impact to river water quality for some ECs. However, further monitoring is required to better appreciate this. The developed methodology for a wide variety of ECs in a range of liquid and solid phases will allow, for the first time, a comprehensive assessment of ECs fate and removal in septic tanks, and their impact to surface water quality.

System Wide Governance and Leadership: A New Governance Model to Rethink How Performance is Measured; How Integrated Services are Contracted, Funded and Co-ordinated and How Outcomes and Benefits are Assessed

This workshop shares learning from the work of Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership to develop a strategic governance and performance framework that supports person centred practice and assesses impact on outcomes for people.
 It is widely recognised that for person centred approaches to be sustained, they need to go beyond practice and be embedded within the culture, systems and processes of health and social care organisations. This poses a challenge for traditional approaches to performance management, which tend to hold services accountable for delivering on easily measurable service outputs, rather than working in the flexible and outcome focused ways required to be person centred. In this workshop we share learning from work carried out by Midlothian Health and Social Care Partnership to align strategic governance and performance systems with their commitment to person centred practice and provide space for workshop participants to explore how they could put learning into practice.
 Midlothian HSCP are responsible for delivering and commissioning integrated services and supports to a local population of about 93,000 people in Scotland. The partnership has been strongly committed to embedding person centred practice for many years and have established the ‘MidWay’ approach to having ‘Good Conversations’ and building relationships with people, where services facilitate change, rather than aim to fix it.
 The partnership recognised that their strategic governance and performance approach was not aligned with this focus on person centred practice and outcomes for people. In 2020 they commissioned Matter of Focus to work with them to develop an outcome focused performance framework underpinned by the Matter of Focus approach and software OutNav. Over the past 2.5 years the framework has been tested and refined by diverse services and teams and is now being rolled out across the partnership. 
 The Matter of Focus approach is informed by contribution analysis and evidence to action approaches and enables organisations delivering complex change that is people based to evidence contribution to desired outcomes, rather than attribution. The approach and software is being used by more than 150 organisations internationally.
 
 The workshop will be of interest to managers, leaders, researchers and policy makers looking to embed person centred practice at scale and to improve governance and performance management approaches.
 The interactive workshop will involve: 5 minutes welcome and introductions; 10 minutes table discussion; 10 minute presentation on the Matter of Focus approach; 15 minute presentation on the framework and lessons learnt from Midlothian HSCP; 10 minute table discussions; 10 minutes feedback from tables, summary of take home messages and close. 
 The audience will be engaged through focused discussion questions at the tables. Take home messages will be captured from each table by the presenters in the final feedback session.

Online qualitative research with disabled children and young people in Scotland: A reflection on its advantages and disadvantages, and how limitations were addressed

With the COVID-19 pandemic, online recruitment strategies and data generation processes have become popular in social science research. Although online and creative methods, such as digital photo elicitation, online interviews, and discussion forums are increasingly used in qualitative health research, their use with disabled children and young people is not well established. Drawing on the online methodological approach used for a qualitative study conducted with disabled children and young people in Scotland, exploring their experiences of accessing healthcare and other supports during the pandemic, we reflect on our concerns and learning in relation to a digital interviewing process. Limitations and challenges of online and digital methods were varied and partially addressed by both research subjects and researchers. A significant limitation entailed the digital divide, which meant that families without the equipment and connectivity might have had less opportunity to hear about the research and participate. However, an online approach minimised travel costs, facilitated interview data transcription and, most importantly, offered children and young people a variety of participative and digital tools to talk about their experiences. Our paper raises questions on the assumptions often made about the difficulty of doing research with disabled children and young people by highlighting the benefits of this approach. It also suggests that some limitations can be addressed by engaging in collaborative and creative work between research participants and researchers.

Outcomes for children and young people growing up in kinship care in Scotland: A population-level data linkage study

ObjectivesThe number of children and young people living in kinship care (living separately from their parents with a family friend/relative) in Scotland has increased consistently since 2010. This study aims to explore outcomes for children and young people in kinship care in terms of their health, education, and care journeys.
 MethodsThis population-wide data linkage study will utilise data on all children and young people who have been placed in formal kinship care from 2008 onwards. The datasets linked for this study are:
 
 Looked After Children
 Child Protection
 Health Visiting
 Educational attainment, attendances, absences and exclusion
 Children’s Hearings data
 
 Through descriptive analysis the study will provide insight into the experiences and outcomes of children and young people in kinship care. Where appropriate, comparisons will be drawn with the wider care population and the general population of children and young people in Scotland.
 ResultsData will be presented which highlight:
 
 Levels of kinship care usage in Scotland, and how this varies regionally and over time.
 The routes into kinship care in terms of child protection concerns and legal reasons data.
 How children fare while in kinship care – specifically in terms of their childhood development, placement stability and educational attainment/engagement.
 The pathways out of formal kinship care, and whether these differ over time.
 
 Full results will be available for publication at the 2023 ADR UK conference.
 Conclusion This is the first population-wide study on outcomes for children and young people living in kinship care within Scotland. It is hoped that insight arising from this work will aid local authorities, government and others in meeting the needs of the steadily increasing number of children living in formal kinship care.

Accelerated waning of the humoral response to COVID-19 vaccines in obesity

Obesity is associated with an increased risk of severe Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection and mortality. COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of serious COVID-19 outcomes; however, their effectiveness in people with obesity is incompletely understood. We studied the relationship among body mass index (BMI), hospitalization and mortality due to COVID-19 among 3.6 million people in Scotland using the Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19 (EAVE II) surveillance platform. We found that vaccinated individuals with severe obesity (BMI > 40 kg/m2) were 76% more likely to experience hospitalization or death from COVID-19 (adjusted rate ratio of 1.76 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.60–1.94). We also conducted a prospective longitudinal study of a cohort of 28 individuals with severe obesity compared to 41 control individuals with normal BMI (BMI 18.5–24.9 kg/m2). We found that 55% of individuals with severe obesity had unquantifiable titers of neutralizing antibody against authentic severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus compared to 12% of individuals with normal BMI (P = 0.0003) 6 months after their second vaccine dose. Furthermore, we observed that, for individuals with severe obesity, at any given anti-spike and anti-receptor-binding domain (RBD) antibody level, neutralizing capacity was lower than that of individuals with a normal BMI. Neutralizing capacity was restored by a third dose of vaccine but again declined more rapidly in people with severe obesity. We demonstrate that waning of COVID-19 vaccine-induced humoral immunity is accelerated in individuals with severe obesity. As obesity is associated with increased hospitalization and mortality from breakthrough infections, our findings have implications for vaccine prioritization policies.

A narrative inquiry into the physical education and youth sport experiences of gay male rugby players: a Bourdieuian perspective

ABSTRACT Background Emerging within the Physical Education (PE) and Youth Sport (YS) context is literature that runs counter to a previous focus on the negative treatment and outcomes for gay pupils (Monk, D. 2011. “Challenging Homophobic Bullying in Schools: The Politics of Progress.” International Journal of Law in Context 7 (2): 181–207; Anderson, E. 2011b. “Masculinities and Sexualities in Sport and Physical Cultures: Three Decades of Evolving Research.” Journal of Homosexuality 58 (5): 565–578), as they negotiate their way through a predominantly heteronormative environment (Landi, D. 2018. “Toward a Queer Inclusive Physical Education.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 23 (1): 1–15). While it would be false to assume that a vast number of gay young people do not suffer at the hands of gendered expectations and homophobic abuse (Stonewall. 2017a. Schools Report Scotland: The Experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans Young People in Scotland’s Schools in 2017.), there remains an absence of research into those who have successfully negotiated this – at times – toxic climate (Marshall, D. 2010. “Popular Culture, the ‘Victim’ Trope and Queer Youth Analytics.” International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 23 (1): 65–85; Monk, D. 2011. “Challenging Homophobic Bullying in Schools: The Politics of Progress.” International Journal of Law in Context 7 (2): 181–207). Purpose This paper seeks to make a meaningful contribution to addressing a gap in current research by exploring specifically the lives of gay men who have continued to engage in physical activity (PA) in later life. By exploring these individuals’ PE and YS experiences, greater detail can be identified to how inhibiting factors were mitigated and facilitating factors were exploited in leading to their successful current participation. Design and analysis Three gay males’ experiences are explored through a narrative approach that provided a voice to, and challenged, the cultural story of this often-marginalised community. Through the theoretical lens of Bourdieu’s (Bourdieu, P. 1977. “Structures and the Habitus.” In Outline of a Theory of Practice, 72–95. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; Bourdieu, P. 1986. “The Forms of Capital.” In Handbook of Theory and Research on the Sociology of Education, edited by Pierre Bourdieu, 241–258. Westport: Greenwood; Bourdieu, P. 1989. “Social Space and Symbolic Power.” Sociological Theory 7 (1): 14–25; Bourdieu, P. 2002. “Habitus.” In Habitus: A Sense of Place, 43–53. Burlington: Ashgate) underpinning social theory, and his conceptual tools of Habitus, Capital and Field, the researchers were able to disentangle the complex negotiations of three gay males’ social experiences offering detailed and unique insights throughout each stage of the research process. Within their stories, notions of heteronormativity, hypermasculinities and low perceived physical competence were identified as inhibiting factors, while increased opportunities, representation and education were recognised to facilitate their return to rugby and potentially enhance future youth PE and YS experiences. Conclusion The paper makes links between three gay males involvements in PE and current engagement in YS, and identifies how inhibiting factors were mitigated and facilitating factors were exploited in order to achieve successful current participation.

Suicide: children and young adults

British Journal of NursingVol. 32, No. 2 EditorialSuicide: children and young adultsIan Peate FRCN OBEIan Peate FRCN OBEEditor in Chief, British Journal of NursingSearch for more papers by this authorIan Peate FRCN OBEPublished Online:30 Jan 2023https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2023.32.2.49AboutSectionsView articleView Full TextPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InEmail View article References Public Health Scotland. Suicide among young people in Scotland. A report from the Scottish Suicide Information Database. 2022a. https://tinyurl.com/2eecy2wt (accessed 17 January 2023) Google ScholarPublic Health Scotland. A profile of deaths in Scotland 2011-2019. A report from the Scottish Suicide Information Database (ScotSID). 2022b. https://tinyurl.com/39tb5fhf (accessed 17 January 2023) Google Scholar FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails 26 January 2023Volume 32Issue 2ISSN (print): 0966-0461ISSN (online): 2052-2819 Metrics History Published online 30 January 2023 Published in print 26 January 2023 Information© MA Healthcare LimitedPDF download

Variation in hospital cost trajectories at the end of life by age, multimorbidity and cancer type.

Approximately thirty thousand people in Scotland are diagnosed with cancer annually, of whom a third live less than one year. The timing, nature and value of hospital-based healthcare for patients with advanced cancer are not well understood. The study's aim was to describe the timing and nature of hospital-based healthcare use and associated costs in the last year of life for patients with a cancer diagnosis. We undertook a Scottish population-wide administrative data linkage study of hospital-based healthcare use for individuals with a cancer diagnosis, who died aged 60 and over between 2012 and 2017. Hospital admissions and length of stay (LOS), as well as the number and nature of outpatient and day case appointments were analysed. Generalised linear models were used to adjust costs for age, gender, socioeconomic deprivation status, rural-urban (RU) status and comorbidity. The study included 85,732 decedents with a cancer diagnosis. For 64,553 (75.3%) of them, cancer was the primary cause of death. Mean age at death was 80.01 (SD 8.15) years. The mean number of inpatient stays in the last year of life was 5.88 (SD 5.68), with a mean LOS of 7 days. Admission rates rose sharply in the last month of life. One year adjusted and unadjusted costs decreased with increasing age. A higher comorbidity burden was associated with higher costs. Major cost differences were present between cancer types. People in Scotland in their last year of life with cancer are high users of secondary care. Hospitalisation accounts for a high proportion of costs, particularly in the last month of life. Further research is needed to examine triggers for hospitalisations and to identify influenceable reasons for unwarranted variation in hospital use among different cancer cohorts.

Strengthening precarity? A critical analysis of education and training programmes in the UK (Scotland)

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to examine the provision of education and training programmes for young people in Scotland for work and lifelong learning within the context of the skills ecosystem approach adopted by the Scottish Government.Design/methodology/approachThe research drew upon findings from a large EU-funded multi-country project which ran from 2016 to 2019 that comprised experiences and perspectives with young people who were affected by these programmes as well as the managers and practitioners tasked with delivering them. The work was conducted in Aberdeenshire and Glasgow and included in-depth interviews with young people and programme managers and practitioners.FindingsThe research showed that there is a gap between the rhetoric of the intentions of the policies and how those involved at ground level experience the programmes enacted under policies which draw on a skill ecosystem approach. Whilst there was public funding for training, it was not clear from the enactment of the relevant policies where employers' responsibilities lie. Locating the findings in the skills ecosystem model highlights the weak engagement of employers in their pivotal role in the education and training system and the resulting increased precarity of the young people's futures.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper sheds light on the shape of education and training provision in Scotland, the range of participants engaged in the provision and the commitment of providers in comparison to policy language and intentions.Originality/valueThrough the skill ecosystem approach, this paper draws together policy narratives and the experiences of young people.

Civil Society Shifts, Challenges and Responses to COVID-19: Ireland, Scotland and Wales

This paper discusses to what degree did civil society organisations (CSOs) felt threatened during COVID-19 in Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The authors explore how civil society organisations handled lockdowns. The authors invited three CSOs from Scotland, Wales and Ireland to describe the variations between cultural and political contexts and the influence of social and environmental dynamics on their work during COVID-19. These three countries have been challenged to a great extent by a high level of uncertainty owing to the full lockdowns during COVID-19. Hitherto, the people of Scotland, Wales and Ireland have been living relaxed and operating smoothly. Lockdowns have created challenges for successful CSOs. This paper focuses on the political reactions and social dynamics of CSOs focused on active grassroots participatory democracy and the philosophy that comes with it as a democratic decision-making mechanism where people have the power to vote on progress in the area of public participation and social change. The central finding in our investigation is that CSOs power to influence their politicians or society and become engaged in changes within their society is minimised during the pandemic.

Bringing out leaders in dementia (bold): creating the conditions for persons to flourish as social leaders

Background: bold (Bringing Out Leaders in Dementia), funded by the Life Changes Trust, is a creative and innovative social leadership project for people in Scotland living with dementia. Aim: A key part of bold is the bold programme, which takes a person-centred focus to help people empower themselves to flourish through creative methods and personal development. bold brings together people with a diverse range of skills and abilities on an equal footing in a safe and supported space, in which they can explore themselves as ‘social leaders’. Methods: An interdisciplinary team from the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University collaborated with creative artists from the outset to develop the programme that uses a mixture of arts-based methods to encourage creativity, innovation and imagination to explore and develop leadership potential. These include creative writing, working with clay and collage, improvisation, movement, reflective walking, singing and song writing, voice and breathing, and performing arts. In this article we provide an overview of the programme’s design from its outset and of how the creative methods have been adapted and developed to work online as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Results: A brief overview shows how bold has evolved beyond the online programme and how those who take part continue to find ways to create spaces for people living with dementia to flourish as they become part of the bold community. Implications for practice: A programme for encouraging and empowering individuals to flourish requires a reflective and person-centred approach in a safe and supported environment Successful outcomes depend on multiple factors, including careful programme delivery planning, good facilitation, and commitment and belief from those who take part An inclusive and accessible approach is beneficial when using creative methods for people living with dementia