Prevention Systems: An ISSUP Scientific Council Discussion

National prevention systems are an essential requirement for the effective development and implementation of comprehensive and contextually appropriate prevention policies and interventions. According to the UNODC, an effective prevention system requires the presence of

A supportive policy and legal framework

Scientific evidence and research

Coordination between multiple sectors and levels - national, sub-national and municipal / local

Training of policymakers and practitioners

Commitment to providing adequate resources to sustain the system in the long term

The panel presentations will provide an overview of global activities to strengthen prevention system, with specific examples from Europe and Oceania. Attendees will be presented the UNODC perspective, with the presentation of the overarching themes and areas of focus highlighted by UNODC guiding documents, with recommendations for how the ISSUP community can interact with these resources to strengthen our own role in prevention systems. The interactive panel will share insights and engage in a panel discussion, inviting comments and questions from attendees.

Target Audience:

Substance Use Disorder Prevention specialists and practitioners.
Policymakers engaged in the development and implementation of Drug Demand Reduction policy.
Drug Demand Reduction workforce interested in prevention and prevention systems.
Health professionals with an interest in prevention systems.
Students in the health and allied professions, engaged in the management of substance use disorders.

Learning Outcomes:

Following this webinar, participants will be able to:

Receive an overview of best practice guiding resources for prevention planning and implementation.
Gain an understanding of the concept of Prevention systems.
Gain insight into some examples for the development, review and implementation of prevention systems.

Presenters:

Rachele Donini

Dr Rachele Donini, MSC PSY, Psychologist and Psychotherapist, is based since 1995 in the Public Local Health Agency (ASL 2-Savona, Italy), Department of Mental health and addiction.

After many years in both the clinical and prevention field, since 2007 she is at the head of the Drug Prevention Unit. Her current work is about drug prevention planning and implementation, project management, and European project planning. In the last 15 years, she's been involved in several European projects aimed to improve and to disseminate the science of prevention, such as the EDPQS (European drug prevention quality standards) project, the EUPC (European prevention curriculum) and ASAP (Analysis of Systems And Professional) -Training and she currently is the local Project Manager of the Frontline Politeia project, funded by the European Commission.

She's a member of the EMCDDA’s (European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction) Advisory Board for the implementation and dissemination of the EUPC. She is certified by EMCDDA as a European trainer for EUPC. Since 2019 she’s in EUSPR’s board of directors. In 2020 she's been awarded by EUSPR (European Society for Prevention Research) with the “Leading European Prevention Science Practitioner”  Honour. Since 2020 she’s a consultant to EUDA in the EUPC training and other prevention matters. Since 2021she is a consultant to ISSUP global in the development of the INEP Plus course and in the training of the course facilitators.

John Toumbourou

Professor and Chair in Health Psychology and Co-Leader of Intervention Science within the Centre for Social and Early Emotional Development (SEED Lifespan), Deakin University, Australia.

Professor John Toumbourou is the Chair in Health Psychology within the School of Psychology at Deakin University. He is the Co-Leader of Intervention Sciences within the SEED Lifecourse Research Centre and a prominent social advocate in areas related to child and adolescent mental health promotion and the prevention of alcohol and drug problems. He plays a leadership role in assisting the development of partnerships and research capacity within the School. He teaches at postgraduate level and also supervises higher degree students. Professor Toumbourou has been influential internationally and nationally in assisting the development of research and practice in the fields of prevention science and health psychology. He has received international awards for his contributions in these areas and has been influential in reshaping Australian health policies to more effectively address adolescent alcohol misuse and related problems.

Wadih Maalouf (Mr.), PhD MPH

Coordinator Prevention programme, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Dr Maalouf holds a PhD in Mental Health and Drug Addiction Epidemiology from Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Wadih joined UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) in 2005, first based in the Regional Office for Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in Cairo-Egypt. In this capacity, he supported assessment of drug situations and development related drug response strategies, while building technical assistance on availing evidence-based prevention of drug use and treatment of substance use disorders in the region. Since 2010, he started managing a global programme on Prevention of Drug Use, Violence and Crime from UNODC HQ in Vienna. This programme promotes evidence-based prevention interventions and policies in line with the UNODC WHO International Standards on Drug Use Prevention. Further to the promotion of the Standards the programme aims to develop, pilot and assess the impact of family skills responses in preventing drug use, crime and violence (including in humanitarian settings) as well as life skills education responses in schools and in sport settings.

Moderators:

Goodman Sibeko

ISSUP Scientific Advisor.

Livia Edegger

ISSUP Deputy Chief Executive .

References:

UNODC, International standards on drug use prevention, 2013
EMCDDA, Drug prevention: exploring a systems perspective, 2019 
https://www.euda.europa.eu/publications/technical-reports/drug-prevention-exploring-systems- perspective_en 
Berecki-Gisolf, J., Rowland, B., Reavley, N., Minuzzo, B., Toumbourou, J. (2020) Evaluation of community coalition training effects on youth hospital-admitted injury incidence in Victoria, Australia: 2001–2017. Injury Prevention. 26(5), 463-470. https://doi.org/10.1136/injuryprev-2019-043386  
Carson KV, Brinn MP, Labiszewski NA, Esterman AJ, Chang AB, Smith BJ. (2011) Community interventions for preventing smoking in young people. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011(7):CD001291. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001291.pub2.  
Close C, Elek E, Roberts CA, Dunlap LJ, Graham PW, Scaglione NM, Palen LA, Clarke T. (2021) A National Cost Analysis of Community Interventions to Prevent Underage Drinking and Prescription Drug Misuse. Prevention Science. 22(8):1071-1085. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01229-4.  
Gates S, McCambridge J, Smith LA, Foxcroft DR. (2006) Interventions for prevention of drug use by young people delivered in non-school settings. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. (1):CD005030. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005030.pub2.  
Rowland, B., Kelly, A.B., Mohebbi, M., Kremer, P., Abrahams, C., Abimanyi-Ochom, J., Carter, R., Williams, J., Smith, R., Osborn, A., Hall, J., Hossein, T., Renner, H., Toumbourou, J.W. (2022) Evaluation of Communities That Care - Effects on Municipal Youth Crime Rates in Victoria, Australia: 2010 – 2019. 23, 24–35, Prevention Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-021-01297-6  
Thurow, C. F., Nunes, C., & Schneider, D. R. (2021). Psychometrics and cultural adaptations of the Communities That Care Youth Survey: A systematic review. Journal of Community Psychology, 49(7), 2892-2904. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-020-09766-z  
Toumbourou, J.W. Rowland, B., Williams, J., Smith, R., & Patton, G.C. (2019) Community intervention to prevent adolescent health behavior problems: Evaluation of Communities that Care in Australia. Health Psychology. 38(6), 536-544. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/hea0000735  
Walmisley U, De Jong M, George A, Okeyo I, Späth C, Siegfried N, Harker N, Tomlinson M, Doherty T. (2024) Whole-of-community and intersectoral interventions that address alcohol-related harms: A scoping review. Global Public Health. 19(1):2357211. https://doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2024.2357211.

Webinars and online events delivered and hosted by the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) are provided for informational purposes only. They are educational in nature and do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Themes

Prevention

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