Early detection and prevention of drug abuse
How to instill in young people and teenagers healthy behaviours regarding drug use, and how to enhance secondary school teachers’ ability in detecting and preventing drug abuse?
Since prehistoric times people have turned to drugs to lessen physical pain or alter their state of consciousness. Drug use was generally limited to people who had reached maturity or very particular situations. Currently, drug use and abuse is a very serious social and public health problem that generates great social concern. This is due to the widespread drug consumption in many sectors of the population, the decline in the age of usage initiation and the severity of the individual and community consequences of the phenomenon on the three levels considered in the current concept of health: physical, psychological and social. If a few years ago, speaking of the drug problem usually alluded to illegal drugs such as heroin, currently the concern has focused on the consumption of legal drugs such as alcohol and tobacco, which are considered the gateway to the consumption of other substances. Alcohol and tobacco are also considered the gateway to the use of substances whose consumption is increasing, cannabis and cocaine.
The phenomenon of drug use among young people is a growing problem which needs to be addressed in an international and multidisciplinary way. According to the epidemiological studies, the number of youngsters who admit having tried drugs continues to grow, while the starting age is decreasing (European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug-Addiction Annual Report 2007).
Thanks to the e-NEEDD study (European Network on Exchange Early Detection Drug-consumption) we reviewed aspects such as the definition of drugs and addictive behavior, consumption patterns and the current status of the problem. Also presented are the criteria used to determine whether consumption or abuse of a substance is taking place. Finally, we reviewed the main individual risk factors that favor substance consumption and integrate them into a comprehensive instrument to diagnose the presence of drug use risk factors and by the design and implementation of a training course for high-school teachers in the European Union in full compliance with priorities regarding drug dependency established in the community framework, in that it seeks to cover the following specific needs:
- Know the state of the art in preventive intervention and early detection of drug use in school environments in the participating countries. To avoid duplicating effort, results of convergent projects will be taken into account, such as the one developed by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), which is currently being developed in participating countries. To accomplish this objective, we established a systematic methodology to compile programs and best intervention practices for drug dependency in school environments.
- Create and/or validate an instrument for early detection to identify youngsters vulnerable to drug use and develop suitable selective prevention measures. This objective intends to provide the beneficiary group, high-school teachers, with an instrument capable of detecting high risk individuals before they start using drugs, as well as detection and early treatment those who already use drugs. This instrument is to be used by professionals in secondary education as a practical and innovative part of their training program.
- Design of on-line training program/course for professionals in secondary education on drug use prevention and detection in school environments. This objective includes curriculum design, content development, course evaluation and dissemination through their translation and virtualization
Starting from the need to prioritize the implementation of measures directed at improving the efficiency of preventive detection and intervention, reporting risk factors related to drug use to contribute to early intervention programs, and guarantee training for professionals who are in contact with potential drug users, especially young ones.
Learn more:
E-NEEDD – European Network on Exchange Early Detection Drug-consumption
E-NEEDD - European Networkon Exchange Early Detection Drug-consumption
[su_tabs active="1" vertical="yes"]What does it support [su_tab title="Objectives"]
The E-NEEDD Project meets several of the proposed objectives of the Strategy to Combat Drugs 2005/2012. In line with this strategy document, it is considered essential to successfully prevent at school level, to research and train teachers and professionals working in education. E-NEEDD aims to develop applied solutions and training in the field of drug prevention
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[su_tab title="Activities"]
- Comparative analysis of the prevalence of drug use and associated factors in child population in the participating countries
- Comparative study of preventive interventions developed in the participating countries and identification of the best practice and distribution of it
- Development of an early detection scale of drug use
- Design and evaluation of a training program (50 hours) on prevention and counseling in drug abuse directed at teachers in secondary schools
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[su_tab title="Results"]
- Evaluation Instruments
- European Prevention Programs Finder
- Teacher Training for the Detection of Drug Use among Adolescents in Europe , e-book
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[su_tab title="Partners"]
- Coordinator: Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) (Spain)
- Universidad Miguel Hernández. (UMH) (Spain)
- Federación de Enseñanza de Comisiones Obreras (Spain)
- Universidade Aberta (Portugal)
- Instituto da Droga e Toxicodependência (Portugal)
- Università Telematica “Guglielmo Marconi” (Italy)
- Colegiul National “Fratii Buzestt” (Romania)
- Petre Andrei” din Iaşi (Romania)
- National Antidrugs Agency (Romania)
- Bahçesehir Universitesi (Turkey)
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[su_tab title="Info & contacts"]
Follow the project IN ACTION
Date of project: 01/2/2008 – 31/11/2010
DG of reference: DG EAC, Education and Training, Lifelong Learning Programme – Comenius Multilateral
Contact:
CESIE: luisa.ardizzone@cesie.org
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