Multiple Exclusion Homelessness in the UK: Key Patterns and Intersections

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Fitzpatrick ◽  
Sarah Johnsen ◽  
Michael White
Keyword(s):  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Institutional Care ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Low Threshold ◽  
The Uk ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Personal Trauma ◽  
Very High ◽  
Prevalent Form

This article presents preliminary results from a multi-stage quantitative study of ‘multiple exclusion homelessness’ (MEH) in seven urban locations across the UK. It demonstrates a very high degree of overlap between a range of experiences associated with ‘deep social exclusion’ – namely, homelessness, substance misuse, institutional care and ‘street culture’ activities (such as begging and street drinking). It also provides evidence to support the contention that homelessness is a particularly prevalent form of exclusion, with its experience reported as widespread by those accessing low threshold support services targeted at other dimensions of deep exclusion, such as drug misuse. Further, the analysis presented indicates that the nature of MEH varies geographically, with the profile of the population affected looking quite different in Westminster (London) than in the other urban locations. The main explanation for this appears to be the exceptionally high proportion of migrants in the MEH population in Westminster, who tend to report lower overall levels of personal trauma and vulnerability than the indigenous MEH population.

scholarly journals Commentary

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-40
Author(s):  
Roch Cantwell
Keyword(s):  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Illicit Drug ◽  
Information Gathering ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Tabloid Journalism ◽  
Timely Reminder

In the sometimes sensational world of illicit drug reportage, there is one unsung villain. While heroin misuse remains the bête noir of tabloid journalism, ecstasy the demon of the dance floors and cocaine caricatured as the choice of the rich and famous, amphetamine misuse has lurked the shadows. Its use defies such simple categorisation and spans several groups in society. Bruce has provided a timely reminder of this neglected area in substance misuse literature and, in the process, has highlighted the relevance of basic information gathering as the most important tool in the armamentorium of drug misuse workers. The lack of prominence given to what they describe as a “hidden epidemic” is striking. Could this be because amphetamine misuse is a less prevalent problem than that of other illicit drugs? Evidence suggests otherwise. Amphetamine is the second most common illicit drug seized in the UK (after cannabis). It is easily produced and used in a variety of modes, and recent research confirms a high prevalence of misuse in this country reflecting that found in North American and Australian literature.

Problems due to use of alcohol and other psychoactive substances

Psychiatry ◽  
2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca McKnight ◽  
Jonathan Price ◽  
John Geddes
Keyword(s):  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Classification Systems ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Psychoactive Substances ◽  
Victorian England ◽  
True Incidence ◽  
Medicinal Use ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

Archaeological evidence has demonstrated that for at least the past 10,000 years humans have been using psychoactive substances. From the chewing of coca leaves in Ancient Peru (c.4000– 3000 bce) to the popular use of laudanum in Victorian England, the recreational, cultural, and medicinal use of ‘mind- altering’ substances has been widespread. As of 2016, alcohol and other psychoactive substances remain a leading cause of medical and social problems world­wide: humans are clearly vulnerable to their attrac­tion. Although a myriad of substances are available, only a few are commonly used, and all tend to produce similar harms upon the individual and society. This chapter will provide a general approach to managing a patient presenting with a problem stemming from substance misuse. It is extremely difficult to gather accurate data on the use of substances in the general population, especially if they are illegal. It is therefore likely that most figures are underestimations of the true incidence. The WHO estimates that tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs are a factor in 12.4 per cent of all deaths worldwide. This is a stark reminder of the severity that problems associated with substance usage can reach, but the morbidity sur­rounding them affects a much wider section of society. In the UK, 80 per cent of adults drink alcohol, 19 per cent smoke tobacco, and 30 per cent admit to having used an illegal drug at least once in their lifetime. Worldwide, the highest prevalence of drug misuse is found in the 16- to 30- year age group, with males outnumbering females at a ratio of 4 to 1. Table 29.1 shows a selection of epidemiological figures associ­ated with commonly used substances. Substance misuse is associated with an array of con­fusing terminology, the majority describing different disorders that may occur due to use of any substance. The following terms are internationally agreed and ap­pear in major classification systems:… ● Intoxication is the direct psychological and physical effects of the substance that are dose dependent and time limited. They are individual to the substance and typically include both pleasurable and unpleasant symptoms.

Substance misuse and dependence: older people deserve better services

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 327-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilana B Crome ◽  
Ed Day
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Available Information

It is not easy to establish with any confidence the prevalence of drug misuse in older people. The issue is confounded by variations in definition of what constitutes ‘elderly’ and ‘drug misuse’, and by the types of sample used (Tables 1 and 2). There are few large-scale studies in the UK, and much of the information has been extrapolated from the American findings. The available information can be organized into four main areas:

scholarly journals The Destructive Capacity of Drug Abuse: An Overview Exploring the Harmful Potential of Drug Abuse Both to the Individual and to Society

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Peter Fox ◽  
Govind Oliver ◽  
Sophie Marie Ellis
Keyword(s):  
Drug Abuse ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Crack Cocaine ◽  
Illegal Drug ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Western World ◽  
Public Health Perspective ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

From a public health perspective, substance abuse has long been a source of major concern, both for the individual’s health and for wider society as a whole. The UK has the highest rates of recorded illegal drug misuse in the western world. In particular, it has comparatively high rates of heroin and crack cocaine use. Substances that are considered harmful are strictly regulated according to a classification system that takes into account the harms and risks of taking each drug (see the tables) (Nutt et al. (2007)). The adverse effects of drug abuse can be thought of in three parts that together determine the overall harm in taking it: (1) the direct physical harm of the substance to the individual user, (2) the tendency of the drug to induce dependence, and (3) the effect of abuse of the drug on families, communities, and society (Gable (2004, 1993)). In this report, we discuss published evidence relating to the harm of substance misuse and consider the neuropsychopharmacological mechanisms behind addiction in an attempt to gain an improved picture of the potential devastation that abuse of these substances may evoke.

Young people and substance misuse

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 601-607
Author(s):  
Irene Hernandez Sanchez
Keyword(s):  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Warning Signs ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Mental Performance ◽  
Illegal Drug Use ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Drunk Alcohol

In the UK in 2017, 9% of pupils aged 11–15 reported having drunk alcohol in the previous week, which is the lowest rate since the 1980s. Illegal drug use in the previous year reported by 15-year olds halved between 2001 and 2014. Despite these promising figures, adolescence is deemed to be decisive for future biopsychosocial development and performance. Initiation during adolescence may therefore have long-term implications, affecting mental performance and educational outcomes. This article focuses on patterns of drug misuse in teenagers. The warning signs of drug misuse and useful assessment tools are also introduced. For the purposes of this article, alcohol will be defined as a drug.

scholarly journals Drug misuse in older people: old problems and new challenges

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 421-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vellingiri Raja Badrakalimuthu ◽  
Daphne Rumball ◽  
Ajay Wagle
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Diagnostic Ability ◽  
The People ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
The Uk ◽  
And Training ◽  
The Invisible

SummaryVery little attention has been paid to the invisible epidemic of substance misuse among older people in the UK. This article looks at the prevalence of substance misuse in the people over the age of 60. The reasons for difficulty in diagnosing substance misuse are explored and ways to improve diagnostic ability are discussed. Substance misuse leads to severe physical and psychiatric morbidity that is being managed by meagre resources. The article provides recommendations on specific issues related to interventions, biological and psychosocial, and training of psychiatrists.

Electron Microscopy in Molecular Biology

1967 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 2-3
Author(s):  
Cecil E. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Molecular Biology ◽  
Noise Level ◽  
Molecular Structures ◽  
Material Structure ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Shadow Casting ◽  
Electron Image ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Very High

The visualization of organic macromolecules such as proteins, nucleic acids, viruses and virus components has reached its high degree of effectiveness owing to refinements and reliability of instruments and to the invention of methods for enhancing the structure of these materials within the electron image. The latter techniques have been most important because what can be seen depends upon the molecular and atomic character of the object as modified which is rarely evident in the pristine material. Structure may thus be displayed by the arts of positive and negative staining, shadow casting, replication and other techniques. Enhancement of contrast, which delineates bounds of isolated macromolecules has been effected progressively over the years as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 by these methods. We now look to the future wondering what other visions are waiting to be seen. The instrument designers will need to exact from the arts of fabrication the performance that theory has prescribed as well as methods for phase and interference contrast with explorations of the potentialities of very high and very low voltages. Chemistry must play an increasingly important part in future progress by providing specific stain molecules of high visibility, substrates of vanishing “noise” level and means for preservation of molecular structures that usually exist in a solvated condition.

A Low-Noise, High-Gain Quasi-Millimeter-Wave Receiver MMIC with a Very High Degree of Integration Using 3D-MMIC Technology

2011 ◽  
Vol E94-C (10) ◽  
pp. 1548-1556 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takana KAHO ◽  
Yo YAMAGUCHI ◽  
Kazuhiro UEHARA ◽  
Kiyomichi ARAKI
Keyword(s):  
Millimeter Wave ◽  
High Gain ◽  
Low Noise ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Very High ◽  
Millimeter Wave Receiver

scholarly journals Multi-Locus Selection and the Structure of Variation at the white Gene of Drosophila melanogaster

Genetics ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 144 (2) ◽  
pp. 635-645 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A Kirby ◽  
Wolfgang Stephan
Keyword(s):  
Drosophila Melanogaster ◽  
White Gene ◽  
Transcriptional Unit ◽  
North American Population ◽  
Evolutionary Mechanisms ◽  
Locus Selection ◽  
Neutral Equilibrium ◽  
History Of ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Very High

Abstract We surveyed sequence variation and divergence for the entire 5972-bp transcriptional unit of the white gene in 15 lines of Drosophila melanogaster and one line of D. simulans. We found a very high degree of haplotypic structuring for the polymorphisms in the 3′ half of the gene, as opposed to the polymorphisms in the 5′ half. To determine the evolutionary mechanisms responsible for this pattern, we sequenced a 1612-bp segment of the white gene from an additional 33 lines of D. melanogaster from a European and a North American population. This 1612-bp segment encompasses an 834bp region of the white gene in which the polymorphisms form high frequency haplotypes that cannot be explained by a neutral equilibrium model of molecular evolution. The small number of recombinants in the 834bp region suggests epistatic selection as the cause of the haplotypic structuring, while an investigation of nucleotide diversity supports a directional selection hypothesis. A multi-locus selection model that combines features from both-hypotheses and takes the recent history of D. melanogaster into account may be the best explanation for these data.

scholarly journals Opiate dependence and pregnancy: 20-year follow-up study

2007 ◽  
Vol 31 (12) ◽  
pp. 450-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Whitty ◽  
John O'Connor
Keyword(s):  
Psychosocial Functioning ◽  
Substance Misuse ◽  
Opiate Dependence ◽  
Drug Misuse ◽  
Clinical Implications ◽  
Follow Up Study ◽  
Treatment Centre ◽  
Long Term Follow Up

AIMS AND METHODThis study examined the 20-year outcome of 55 women who were pregnant and using opiates in 1985 and were attending the Drug Treatment Centre and Advisory Board, Dublin. We established outcome across a number of variables, including mortality, psychiatric and physical morbidity, psychosocial functioning, ongoing drug misuse and outcome of offspring.RESULTSAt 20-year follow-up 29 women (53%) were deceased. HIV was the commonest cause of death, accounting for 17 deaths (59%). Those who were alive at follow-up displayed high rates of unemployment (84%), illicit substance misuse (74%) and most were dependent on state-subsidised accommodation (78%).CLINICAL IMPLICATIONSMortality was higher in our group compared with other long-term follow-up samples. These findings suggest that such participants and their offspring require intensive long-term support and treatment.

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