Drug Prevention Programs
Introduction
Drug abuse poses a significant problem to individuals, families and the society with diverse adverse outcomes. According to Onrust (2016, 45), drug abuse risks mental health issues, substance use disorders and family conflicts among users. Such crime, psychological and health-related problems expose modern societies to substantial financial burden and missed opportunities. Communities have, as a result, come up with programs to fight drug use, including school, family and community-based. School-based prevention programs have been more successful due to their richness in addressing most risk factors to drug use. This paper will analyze the various drug prevention programs and explore why some have been more successful than others.
School-Based Drug Prevention Programs
School-based drug prevention programs are among the common interventions which societies utilize to prevent members from drug use by focusing on behaviours and influence. According to Das et al. (2016, 74), school-based prevention programs seeks to address social influence and support social competencies which impact behaviours on substance use. The programs can provide education and support on a single or multiple substances while some are universal addressing any drug. Diversity of the programs also occurs in prevention interventions, including education on specific drug use, including its side effects and risk factors while others address developmental challenges. The universality of the school-based programs in needs and risk factors, as a result, makes them common in societies.
In a systematic review, Das et al. (2016, 73) found that school-based are more effective than other interventions such as family and community drug control programs. School-based programs, unlike others, address diverse risk factors to drug use. The programs expose students to education and support programs focusing on family issues, social influence, developmental challenges and goal achievement. However, Onrust (2016, 47) observed that some of the school-based programs are not successful because they fail to address the developmental stages of young people. Developmental stages vary in challenges affecting drug abuse. School-based programs focusing on developmental stages are, therefore, successful because they address specific risk factors and needs.
Family-Based Drug Prevention Programs
Another typical drug prevention program in the society is family-based, where parents and relatives support young people and adults to avoid drug abuse. Family-based prevention programs involve the application of parenting skills such as parental support, monitoring, nurturing behaviours and development of rules and boundaries (Das et al., 2016, 72). Families are risk factors for drug abuse, such as broken relationships and conflicts. Family-based drug prevention programs are, therefore common, due to closeness to children and families serving as risk factors to drug abuse.
Family-based drug prevention programs are also successful, although the level of success is slightly lower than that of school-based interventions. According to Das et al. (2016, 74), the effect of family-based is smaller than that of school-based programs but persistent over the medium and long term. Family-based programs provide interventions addressing family functioning, leaving out other risk factors such as developmental and social influence. de Vicente et al. (2017, 304) however found that family programs focusing on multiple interventions, including positive parenting and family relationships are more effective than those addressing a single risk factor. Several family functioning might be leading to drug use among children necessitating the use of multiple interventions. Family based-programs are, as a result, less successful that school-based to the extent that they address the actual family-related risk factors.
Community-Wide Drug Prevention Programs
Societies are also utilizing community-wide drug prevention programs that involve youth, church and coalition groups, healthcare and police institutions. Community-based programs consist of the development of policies, organization of seminars, mentorship and provision of incentives to control drug use (Ma et al., 2017, 5). People at risk and those abusing drugs benefits from education, empowerment and rules which blocks them from abusing drugs. The programs address specific and divergent risk factors to drug use such as lack of employment, cultural norms and lack of proper social structures. Availability of significant risk factors in the community, thus, makes community-based programs also common and valuable.
Das et al. (2016, 74) found that community-based drug prevention interventions rank number three in success. Ma et al. (2017, 5) had similar findings indicating that community-based programs have significant barriers, such as conflicts between players leading to less success. The success of the community-based programs results from the fact that they address divergent risk factors and barriers to stopping and avoiding drug use, such as cultural norms and unemployment. However, the programs are not comprehensive to cover all and significant risk factors to drug use such as social influence and social competencies like in schools. Ma et al. (2017, 5) observed that the programs lack necessary resources while facing cooperation barriers from different players. Lack of resources blocks the provision of essential education and empowerment, leading to sustained risk factors. Community-based drug prevention programs thus have a low level of success because of unattended risk factors following limited ability and weak organization.
Conclusion
This paper reveals three common drug prevention programs, including school, home and community-based. Although the three programs have been successful, school-based are more effective because they address most of the risk factors which people face, including social integration and developmental challenges. The study shows that the success of an intervention program depends on their focus to actual risk factors in drug abuse. There is, therefore, need for evidence-based interventions to increase effectiveness.
References
Das, J. K., Salam, R. A., Arshad, A., Finkelstein, Y., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2016). Interventions for adolescent substance abuse: An overview of systematic reviews. Journal of Adolescent Health, 59(4), S61-S75.
de Vicente, M. V., Brage, L. B., Socías, M. D. C. O., & Fernández, J. A. A. (2017). Meta-analysis of family-based selective prevention programs for drug consumption in adolescence. Psicothema, 29(3), 299-305.
Ma, Y., Du, C., Cai, T., Han, Q., Yuan, H., Luo, T., … & Zhang, C. (2016). Barriers to community‐based drug dependence treatment: implications for police roles, collaborations and performance indicators. Journal of the International AIDS Society, 19(3), 1-7.
Onrust, S. A., Otten, R., Lammers, J., & Smit, F. (2016). School-based programmes to reduce and prevent substance use in different age groups: What works for whom? Systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 44, 45-59.