Tessa Parkes
Tessa is Professor of Substance Use and Inclusion Health at the University of Stirling. She is Co-Director of the Salvation Army Centre for Addiction Services and Research founded in 2017 to undertake research and knowledge exchange of direct relevance to the organisation. Tessa leads a number of research and knowledge exchange projects focused on the reduction of harms and promotion of health for those impacted by social and health inequalities, including substance related harms. Before coming into academia Tessa worked in the statutory and non-statutory health, social care and housing/ homelessness sectors as a front-line support worker, team leader, and mental health nurse.
How might the ‘Youth in Iceland Model’ for preventing substance use among young people be developed and adapted for use in Dundee, Scotland?
Project aim:
Dundee has considerable problems with drug/alcohol use and a high and growing number of drug/alcohol-related deaths. The Scottish Government drug and alcohol strategy has prevention of substance use as a core element, stating that a new approach to universal substance use prevention is required. It recommends that young people be involved in the design/development/implementation of prevention activities. The aim of this project is to convene a co-production process involving a diverse group of individuals living and working in the City of Dundee to review/interrogate the evidence-base on the ‘Youth in Iceland Model (YiIM)’. Young people and parents/family members will be central to the process. The group will review the scientific evidence, including that gained first hand, for its applicability to Dundee, gain an in-depth understanding of how the model could be implemented/adapted locally, and make recommendations to decision-makers in the City Council, Health Board, and Alcohol and Drug Partnership.
Youth in Iceland Model Final Report, June 2021
More of the project’s outputs can be found here.