Substance use and abuse is considered a non-communicable disease; non-communicable diseases can be more difficult to treat than a communicable disease, but treatments do not have to be expensive. There are many cost effective interventions that can be implemented to treat and help prevent substance abuse. Cost effectiveness is defined in Public Health 101 (2015) as “a concept that combines issues of benefits and harms with issues of financial costs” (Riegelman & Kirkwood, p. 127). Three cost effective preventive measures are discussed in the following document. Firstly, adolescents are extremely sensitive to their peers and social norms; if a peer is using drugs, their friends will likely begin to experiment as well; if their peers believe
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For adolescents who are thinking of using illicit substances or may already have an addiction, information and displays of concern from their peers is likely to be a powerful reason to stop and rethink. The peers of an adolescent may also alter their perception of an issue. Adolescents often rely heavily on the opinions of their peers and do not like deviating from what is socially considered “normal” or “cool.”
The GOOD life is a social norms intervention program being implemented in Denmark to help reduce alcohol and other drug use among adolescents. “The use of alcohol among adolescents in Denmark is one of the highest in Europe” (Stock, Vallentin-Holbech, & Rasmussen, 2016). The GOOD life intervention has three main components that are summarized below:
Firstly, students participate in a one-hour normative feedback session in which they interact with school officials through a web-based poll or other feedback method, to give their assumptions of alcohol and drug use estimates.
Next, posters are displayed in schools by teachers after the normative feedback …show more content…
programs, parents should gain as much knowledge as possible on the dangers of substance abuse. Recognizing that their children may already have a problem with drugs or alcohol, reaching out to local community members trained to help, searching the internet for signs and symptoms of substance abuse, and seeking programs like Teens Using Drugs: What to Know and What to Do, are good ways for parents and guardians to increase their knowledge base and confidence when talking with their children about substance abuse issues. As described on their website, “Teens Using Drugs: What to Know and What to Do is a free, ongoing, two-part series targeted to parents and caretakers of teens but also inclusive of other family members, teens, and people who work with teens and families” (Teens Using Drugs). This program is held twice weekly at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Education Center in Ypsilanti, MI. It consists of two parts; part 1 provides information to understand the progression of substance abuse, recognize signs and patterns, and know when use requires action; part 2 provides information on what should and should not be done when abuse is suspected or recognized, and strategies for helping adolescents. The program concludes with a session with a teen recovering from a substance abuse problem describing his/her experiences with drugs or alcohol and the recovery
For adolescents who are thinking of using illicit substances or may already have an addiction, information and displays of concern from their peers is likely to be a powerful reason to stop and rethink. The peers of an adolescent may also alter their perception of an issue. Adolescents often rely heavily on the opinions of their peers and do not like deviating from what is socially considered “normal” or “cool.”
The GOOD life is a social norms intervention program being implemented in Denmark to help reduce alcohol and other drug use among adolescents. “The use of alcohol among adolescents in Denmark is one of the highest in Europe” (Stock, Vallentin-Holbech, & Rasmussen, 2016). The GOOD life intervention has three main components that are summarized below:
Firstly, students participate in a one-hour normative feedback session in which they interact with school officials through a web-based poll or other feedback method, to give their assumptions of alcohol and drug use estimates.
Next, posters are displayed in schools by teachers after the normative feedback …show more content…
programs, parents should gain as much knowledge as possible on the dangers of substance abuse. Recognizing that their children may already have a problem with drugs or alcohol, reaching out to local community members trained to help, searching the internet for signs and symptoms of substance abuse, and seeking programs like Teens Using Drugs: What to Know and What to Do, are good ways for parents and guardians to increase their knowledge base and confidence when talking with their children about substance abuse issues. As described on their website, “Teens Using Drugs: What to Know and What to Do is a free, ongoing, two-part series targeted to parents and caretakers of teens but also inclusive of other family members, teens, and people who work with teens and families” (Teens Using Drugs). This program is held twice weekly at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital Education Center in Ypsilanti, MI. It consists of two parts; part 1 provides information to understand the progression of substance abuse, recognize signs and patterns, and know when use requires action; part 2 provides information on what should and should not be done when abuse is suspected or recognized, and strategies for helping adolescents. The program concludes with a session with a teen recovering from a substance abuse problem describing his/her experiences with drugs or alcohol and the recovery