About the project
About 14% of young people are not in education, employment, and training (also called NEET) in the UK. NEET young women outnumber NEET young men and experience worse long-term mental health and social outcomes. Caring roles and family unemployment are more likely to result in young women being NEET than men, and NEET young women are more likely to be bullied and harassed when trying to re-enter work and education. The multiple disadvantages for NEET- young women are compounded in deprived areas, especially coastal regions, which have fewer jobs, poor schools and infrastructure, and lower aspirations than deprived inland regions. Yet structural factors do not dictate life trajectories; varying outcomes of NEET subgroups are mediated by attitudinal differences. Hope is one such attitude. Hope is the belief one can reach their goals (self-agency) and identify how to do so (pathways). Evidence specifically links less hope to a greater likelihood of being NEET, and greater hope to a reduced risk of staying NEET over time. However, NEET young people have less hope than other groups on average; and this appears to be especially the case for NEET-YW. It is also notable that young women particularly lack hope relative to young men when they live in remote areas, like coastal regions.
We used a 2022 Application Development Award (NIHR135316), to develop the HOPEFUL intervention, which aims to create community capacity for raising hope in NEET-YW to reduce long-term trajectories of mental ill-health and social disability. We used a phased qualitative research design and participatory methods to create a hope-focused intervention for NEET young women. Phase 1 investigated population needs and intervention parameters through semi-structured interviews with 28 informants living or working in disadvantaged coastal communities in England. This sample comprised eight NEET young women, four family members, and 16 practitioners from relevant support organisations. Phase 2 refined intervention parameters and outcomes through co-design sessions with four NEET young women, followed by an online theory of change workshop with 10 practitioners. The resulting intervention model is articulated as a psychosocial intervention that builds hope by enhancing positive sense of self and increasing time spent in meaningful activities, before teaching the skills needed to identify, set and pursue personally meaningful goals. The intervention is designed to be delivered using an innovative “youth-initiated mentor” model. This means NEET-YW select someone they already know and trust to support them with HOPEFUL, e.g., a relative or sports coach, and this person is trained to provide this role.