A feasibility study exploring alcohol service engagement among Polish street drinkers has been released by Alcohol Research UK.
The research aimed to identify pathways to street drinking, to explore awareness of, attitudes towards and barriers to accessing services. The research was undertaken by the Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at Middlesex University.
The key findings are:
- The street drinkers encountered difficulties with statutory and charitable organisations, particularly with respect to lack of language support.
- A lack of recourse to public funds plays a critical role, not only in triggering their homeless state, but in preventing them from accessing support.
- Given their state of homelessness, this small study of Polish street drinkers found evidence of resourcefulness and mutual support in managing their lives and coping with life on the street.
- The reserach techniques deployed during the research played an important role in securing the participation of members of this intrinsically hard-to-engage group.
- The techniques established a positive, candid interview dynamic, and enabled participants to meaningfully share ownership of the research process.
Homeless Link produce resources on on Central and Eastern European homelessness issues and conducted a 2009 report. Other organisations such as Barka UK have been set up to work with migrants facing homelessness.
See here for a breifing on 'street drinking: enforcement Vs support'. See here for previous street drinking tagged Alcohol Policy UK posts.
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