Public Health England (PHE) have released a briefing summarising the international evidence on prevention for alcohol and drug use. The report is a summary of the UNODC prevention standards with reference to UK guidelines, programmes and interventions in England.
The review identifies factors and interventions linked to positive outcomes as:
- early interventions, particularly generic pre-school programmes, improving literacy and numeracy, have a long-term effect
- personal and social skills education
- links to school interventions including school environment improvement programmes: positive ethos; disaffection; truancy; participation; academic and social-emotional learning
- a focus on ‘risk and resilience’ factors
- multi-component programmes involving parenting interventions and support for individuals and families, which may require joined up commissioning and planning
- staff who are qualified and competent to deliver the interventions they provide
The briefing suggests the following result in no or negative outcomes:
- scare tactics and images
- knowledge-only approaches
- ex-users and the police as drug educators where their input is not part of a wider prevention programme
- peer mentoring schemes that are not evidence-based
Earlier this year the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) released a briefing paper [pdf] on the prevention of drug and alcohol dependence, offering similar findings through a more detailed exploration of the evidence.
In 2010 the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) released alcohol prevention guidance PH24, outlining relevant evidence for policy and practice. NICE more recently released a new quality standard for preventing harmful alcohol use in the community, QS83.
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