Lydia Shrimpton

This article examines British Muslim school children’s (BMSC’s) food practices and preferences, focusing on halal meal availability in grant-maintained schools. These schools should comply with the school food standards (SFS). This article addresses a research and policy gap on religious dietary inclusion in schools. Using a participatory action research design, 27 participants (19 children and eight parents) from South Asian backgrounds co-designed visual methods (drawing, ranking and recipe creation) to address the research aims. A public involvement and community engagement group shaped the study from inception to dissemination. Thematic analysis identified three themes: (1) religious dietary requirements and school food consumption behaviour; (2) intergenerational preferences and food identity; and (3) food improvements and menu design. BMSC choose vegetarian foods to comply with religious beliefs, given limited halal options. While schools comply with the SFS, limited options exist for religious and cultural inclusion. Findings highlight how participatory methods amplify minority voices and inform inclusive policies. The article argues for mandatory inclusive school food policies rather than current optional policies that contribute to food inequity. We propose the equitable provision of both halal and non-halal options for BMSC, and parents felt that halal provision would promote greater choice, equity and inclusivity. It positions food provision as a religious right and social justice issue under the Equality Act 2010. Further work should explore equitable school meal provision.

Loneliness is a public health issue. This study examines loneliness among older South Asian and Chinese adults, focussing on cultural barriers and shared risk factors. It explores perceptions of these population who face distinctive challenges exacerbated by health inequalities. The intervention incorporated social activities delivered by a third sector organisation to mitigate loneliness among these distinct groups with different religions, migration histories and cultural practices. Methods: A qualitative design, featured semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 28 participants from Northeast England. Activities included exercise, bingo, educational initiatives, and local trips. Data collected over 2023-2024 thematically analysed. Aims and objectives: To understand older South Asian and Chinese people’s perceptions of culturally, religiously and linguistically tailored social activities designed to reduce loneliness. Results: Using a socio-ecological framework, four themes emerged: coping with loneliness; cultural relevance and belonging; health and practical barriers shaping engagement, health benefits of social activities; and ageing, frailty and independence concerns. Participants reported that culturally tailored interventions reduced loneliness by improving emotional, physical and educational wellbeing. Data highlighted how culture, religion and language intersect with ageing, health and social participation. Discussion and conclusion: Culturally tailored activities effectively mitigated loneliness and supported positive health outcomes among older South Asian and Chinese participants. Bilingual staff significantly facilitated engagement. Findings suggest inclusive ageing policies may reduce frailty and dependency risks in these under-researched ethnic minority groups. Future research should explore specific community needs and transfer lessons to other minority ethnic ageing populations.

Domestic violence and abuse (DVA) is a global public health challenge. Project Cautioning And Relationship Abuse (CARA) is an out-of-court resolution used across police forces in England and Wales for lower risk, alleged first-time DVA offenders. This article reports on qualitative interviews and focus groups with professionals (police, commissioners, and CARA facilitators and managers, N = 31) about their experiences of delivering CARA following its national rollout. Reflexive thematic analysis indicated strong multiprofessional support for CARA across geographical areas. Professionals recommended changes to enhance current delivery, relating to differential assessment of risk; adaptations to training/implementation; and exploring perceptions of CARA by voluntary sector organizations.

Women Who Use Drugs (WWUD) are amongst the most stigmatised groups in society and are subject to stigma as they engage with services and within their own recovery communities. WWUD who are also mothers have been found to experience increased stigma and disproportionate surveillance by professionals when accessing services, leading to a constant fear of child removal and apprehension to accessing, engaging and seeking support. In this study, we report findings from a community asset mapping project conducted with drug and alcohol recovery services in the North-East of England. The aim of this study is to examine the gender-specific and recovery-related experiences of WWUD when accessing services and women-only spaces. Semi-structured interviews (n = 13) and focus groups (n = 4) were carried out with professionals working in the recovery community and women in recovery from substance use. A reflexive thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the data, resulting in three themes being identified: (1) The role of peer support in empowering women in recovery; (2) Navigating recovery as a mother; and (3) Working with women in recovery. Findings revealed that gender-specific groups provide a sense of safety, connection, identification, and empowerment for WWUD. This study further highlights the gender-based stigma WWUD experience when accessing services, and the challenges they experience where appropriate spaces are limited in the recovery community. We conclude by recognising the importance of sisterhood for WWUD and recommending the promotion of gender-specific peer support groups and for practitioners working with WWUD to reflect on their own stigmatising behaviour and how this can manifest in the increased monitoring of women and mothers in recovery.

People Who Use Substances (PWUS) are among the most stigmatised groups in society. Stigma associated with substance use is known to be detrimental to the individual’s wellbeing, and substance use is often used as a mechanism by policy makers and services to legitimise exclusion. PWUS often do not benefit from the drug and alcohol services that are available to them. Community Asset Mapping (CAM) is a strengths-based approach involving the re-engagement of communities through active involvement in research. There are criticisms and concerns about equity and the burden on participants involved in CAM projects; however, the broad aim of CAM is to identify and document the strengths and pre-existing resources that exist within a community. In the following study, we utilised CAM processes and principles in a large city in the Northeast of England to enable people with lived experience of substance use and practitioners working in drug treatment services to come together and identify resources in the form of services and groups that support recovery. In the process, we were concerned with identifying, engaging with, and involving groups that were known to the recovery community but also were not part of an existing recovery network. Qualitative data were obtained from semi-structured interviews (n = 13) and focus groups (n = 2). A reflexive thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the transcriptions, and from this we generated four themes: (1) community visibility, (2) ownership of the recovery agenda, (3) the impact of stigma and shame, and (4) the benefits of involvement. Our findings revealed a partly fragmented but also well-established, connectedand resourced local recovery community in the city. We were also able to identify a number of recovery groups and services that had previously not been known to the existing recovery community. Additionally, we identified that public and societal substance-related stigma continued to be a barrier that inhibited individuals and recovery groups from making themselves more visible and available to others.

Within traditional drug and alcohol (D&A) treatment services, the majority of those accessing support are of white ethnicity, with only a small percentage of people from the British South Asian (BSA) and Muslim community engaging in treatment services. This paper aims to explore perceived barriers to accessing traditional D&A services within the British South Asian and Muslim communities, based on qualitative data from interviews with family members and a practitioner. Qualitative data were obtained via 11 semi-structured interviews involving a practitioner (n = 1), and family and friends (n = 10) of those with historic and current D&A use in the community. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed four themes: (1) awareness of drug and alcohol use in the community, (2) drug and alcohol use as a taboo topic and the impact of admitting use, (3) knowledge of services for treatment, (4) how to increase awareness and accessibility of treatment. There was an increasing awareness of D&A use in the BSA and Muslim community. Despite this, limited conversations and misconceptions around D&A use and recovery led to those using D&A and their family members feeling stigmatised within their community and unable to seek support. This paper concludes by recommending increased communication between the BSA and Muslim communities and D&A treatment services to ensure accessibility of treatment by improving cultural competency.

Stigmatisation is the process by which an individual is devalued based on their attributes, characteristics, and/or behaviour, with this often leading to prejudice, social and health-related harms, active discrimination, and microaggressions. The aim of this paper is to show how social harms can occur and how stigma is damaging to the health and wellbeing of a person in recovery. To do so, we focus on the harms that arise from the internalisation of labels that mothers who use drugs encounter in a treatment and recovery setting whilst in active recovery, and how this stigmatisation can manifest negative self-beliefs. Qualitative data was used from two semi-structured focus groups involving females with lived experience of substance use (n = 13). A reflexive thematic analysis approach was used to analyse the interview transcripts, and three themes were identified: (1) the enduring nature of stigma; (2) gender disparity and the need for mothers- and women-only spaces; and (3) stigma as a barrier to services and wellbeing. Findings revealed the enduring nature of stigma amongst mothers who were in active recovery, with women feeling judged more harshly than men and experiencing pressure to live up to a “good mother” ideal whilst in recovery. This paper demonstrates that mothers in recovery are still stigmatised and, as a consequence, approach services with increased sensitivity, with stigma often resulting in disengagement or reluctance to access healthcare settings. We conclude that staff in health, social, and primary care settings need to develop a strong therapeutic alliance with mothers in recovery and promote anti-stigma approaches in their practice, in order to mitigate stigma and reduce harms to health and wellbeing.