Devising substance use education programmes for parents: a case study of inter‐agency working from Wales Available to Purchase

The effects of the use and mis‐use of illicit substances on individuals and society continues to be of paramount importance to policy makers from all sectors. As a result, central government is busy promoting a number of initiatives, all aimed at addressing this contemporary problem. Whilst each policy move will be different, they share a common feature, the imperative of “joined‐up” working. This paper provides the results of a research project that examined the genesis and development of a health education project which involved agencies from the voluntary sector, health, social services, education and the police. The paper details the process and mechanics of planning and delivering this type of multi‐disciplinary project. The evaluation of the project showed that on the whole the professionals worked well together. Inter‐agency working was facilitated by the extent to which the professionals involved shared the same discourse and ideology and were thus able to overcome the usual pitfalls of joint working. Where the professions did not share a discourse and ideology, problems of roles and responsibilities emerged: specifically, there was a clash between the “law enforcement” model of the police and “harm reduction” model of the health and social care agencies, which led to some difficulties in working together.