Hannah Carver

@drhannahcarver.bsky.social

Associate Professor in Substance Use/Co-Director SACASR, Uni of Stirling. Interested in substance use, public health, inequalities, qualitative research.

"Drugs are not forbidden because they are dangerous, they are dangerous because they are forbidden,” said Peter Krykant, who "hit the global harm reduction scene with a bang," running an unauthorized overdose prevention site from a van in Glasgow. People who knew and worked with him pay tribute:

Remembering Peter Krykant, Who Knew Harm Reduction Couldn’t Wait

It’s been a few months since Peter Krykant’s passing in July, at the age of 48. He hit the global ...

filtermag.org

Colleagues Dr C Connell, Dr R Kjellgren & Dr H Carver are part of a paper exploring perceived impacts on health & well-being of non-custodial mandatory treatment for substance use among justice-involved adults, & perceived barriers & facilitators to treatment. Read here: doi.org/10.1186/s403...

Understanding the health and well-being impacts and implementation barriers and facilitators of legally-mandated non-custodial drug and alcohol treatment for justice-involved adults: a qualitative evidence synthesis - Health & Justice

Background Non-custodial judicial treatment orders aim to reduce recidivism for justice-involved people with drug and/or alcohol use problems, but health and well-being impacts are not understood. We conducted the first qualitative evidence synthesis to explore the perceived impacts on health and well-being of treatment orders and the perceived barriers and facilitators to implementation from the perspectives of justice-involved adults, their family members/significant others, and staff delivering/ mandating the treatment. Design We searched 14 bibliographic databases (31/10/2023-07/11/2023) and conducted supplementary searches to identify qualitative evidence. Two reviewers appraised methodological limitations using CASP and assessed confidence in review findings using GRADE-CERQual. We used framework synthesis to synthesise evidence. We integrated synthesised findings with results of a complementary quantitative review investigating health and well-being effects of treatment orders. Results We synthesised 25 studies (29 reports); 22/29 reports had moderate or high methodological limitations. Most studies (n = 20) focused on USA drug courts; none focused on alcohol interventions. Only three studies had health and well-being as their main focus. No studies involved family members. Only one study reported a theory of how treatment orders might impact health. GRADE-CERQual assessments of 13 findings were high (n = 7/13), moderate (n = 4/13), or low (n = 2/13) confidence. Justice-involved adults perceived treatment orders to reduce mortality/morbidity risk, improve sense of self and coping with emotions, to result in feeling healthier, but also to exacerbate trauma and increase stress. Coerced treatment was perceived to interfere with “therapeutic change,” nonetheless it was often perceived to reduce, cease and/or stabilise illicit drug use. Justice-involved adults’ challenging life circumstances were an important barrier to reducing/ ceasing substance use. Abstinence-based approaches were common but abstinence may be unrealistic. Intervention effectiveness trials rarely measured relational outcomes of importance to justice-involved adults e.g., impacts on their children, or health outcomes. Conclusions High-quality qualitative studies are urgently needed on the health impacts of diverse treatments orders. Treatment orders should emphasise harm-reduction treatment approaches and address participants’ healthcare and social needs. Theories of how treatment orders work are needed. Unintended negative health consequences of treatment orders must be researched. Future trials should measure and report health and relational outcomes. Study protocol registration: [CRD42023484923]. The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Evidence Synthesis Programme (Grant: NIHR153425, project number NIHR162046) funded this study.

doi.org

A team led by Dr Wendy Masterton are hosting an information sharing webinar on the findings of #research exploring nature-based programmes for people with poor mental health and experience of substance dependence. They'll present 3 new resources. 11am, 28 May. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/nature-bas...

Nature-based programmes for mental health and drug/alcohol problems

Eventbrite - Nature-based programmes for mental health and drug/alcohol problems - Wednesday, May 28, 2025 - Find event and ticket information.

eventbrite.co.uk

So delighted that this paper has been published today (it's been a very long time coming!). We synthesised nine qualitative studies to understand peer workers' experiences and the key components of their role. Now published in BMC Public Health!

Jess@jessicagreenhalgh.bsky.social · last yr.

We have a new paper published! 📝 Led by @drhannahcarver.bsky.social, this systematic review and qualitative evidence synthesis looked to better understand the experiences of peer workers in substance use and homelessness settings. Access here 👇 bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

University of Edinburgh is leading on a new study exploring the effects of attachment and care experience on intergenerational substance use, and are looking for people with experience of their own or a parent’s substance use, and with care experience. edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Attachment, care experience and intergenerational substance use

The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.

edinburgh.eu.qualtrics.com

Privileged to be asked to write a blog for @shaapalcohol.bsky.social on some of my experiences as an ECR and share some early findings from our evaluation of Scotland’s first Managed Alcohol Programme. Happy to be contacted with any questions ☺️

SHAAP@shaapalcohol.bsky.social · last yr.

In our new blog, @jessicagreenhalgh.bsky.social writes about her experience attending @sarnalcohol.bsky.social events as an ECR, and shares a preview of the findings from her research on Managed Alcohol Programmes (MAPs), which will feature in the Alcohol Occasionals! 👉 shaap.org.uk/blog/444-ref...