The Relations Study is an innovative £2.2 million research project to investigate the provision of treatment for parents who use drugs in the UK, in a bid to understand how they interact with health and social care services.

The three-year project – led by the University of Stirling and funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) – involves a team of social scientists and clinical academics from across the world. They will investigate the everyday lives of parents who use drugs and the support that they and their families receive from health and social care services.

Led by Professor Anne Whittaker, of the Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professions Research Unit (NMAHP-RU), the study engages with families and services at two sites (one in Scotland, one in England). The Stirling team manages the Scottish site, while Dr Polly Radcliffe from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, King’s College London, manages the second site in England.