The purpose of the research was to explore if there are key skills that staff members at the STAR Project Ballymun use or particular ways that they relate to service users which help with the formation of social bonds, which in turn leads to increased levels of service user engagement and retention. This summary presents the main findings and recommendations. Data for the study was collected through a literature review, ethnographic observation, interviews and focus groups; this included 60 hours of observation, 17 individual interviews and 2 focus groups with staff and service users.