Bridging the Gap: Exploring School Survey Data in Drug Policy and Prevention - Insights from the ESPAD-MedSPAD Project

Background: The global challenge of collecting and utilising sound data as an evidence base for drug policy-making and prevention initiatives is addressed by the ESPAD-MedSPAD bridge project, a flagship initiative funded by the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe and supported by EMCDDA. This pioneering study evaluates the current utilisation of data from school surveys on risk behaviors (SRB) in 4 key domains: shaping policies, guiding prevention efforts, feeding professional training, and informing public opinion. The incorporation of SRB evidence into decision-making involves 3 primary groups: researchers as knowledge producers, policy-makers and prevention professionals as knowledge users. This study compares the perceptions of these stakeholder groups across different countries, examining the role of SRB data, factors influencing its use, potential facilitators and barriers, and the implementation of knowledge transfer and exchange of accurate information in public discourse.

Methods: A participatory process was employed for key informants from the 4 stakeholder groups to contribute to develop an online survey. By meas of closed and open-ended questions, this survey investigated the use of SRB results in international and national policy-making and prevention, identified challenges of using this type of evidence, and proposed actions to address them. Responses were analysed using a hybrid methodology combining artificial intelligence with traditional statistical tools.

Results: Results from the survey, which garnered responses from over 260 stakeholders across 47 countries in Europe, North Africa, West Asia, and the US, underscore the unanimous recognition of the importance of SRB. Notably, SRB data related to tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis are the most widely used, while non-substance-related risk behaviours remain underutilised.  All stakeholders agree that SRB data are employed in the formulation of policies and prevention initiatives, more policy makers than researchers perceive that SRB data are used for evaluating their effects. Interestingly, despite SRB frequently produce only national estimates, their results are more used in local policy and prevention initiatives.

Conclusions: This research demonstrated that there are differences in the perceptions of knowledge producers and users. Stakeholders should focus on minimising the identified challenges and implementing new knowledge transfer activities. Recommendations include raising researchers' awareness of effective result packaging, providing training for policymakers, prevention professionals, and media operators, and ensuring technical access to relevant data and information. Concrete examples were also collected. The study emphasises the necessity for enhanced communication and cooperation among stakeholder groups, alongside efforts to ensure the sustainability of school surveys, expand their geographical coverage, produce rapid results, and invest more in knowledge brokering.