Challenges in community-based prevention
About
This major session, hosted by the European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR), focuses on community-based prevention, its roots, its challenges, the state of the art, and lived examples (based on the implementation of Communities That Care). Community-based approaches include a multitude of stakeholders and systems (e.g., schools, families, sports clubs, peer groups) that affect substance use and work on needs-based, joint solutions for locally defined problems. While a plethora of research has pointed to long-term effectiveness of some approaches, less is known about others. In particular, there is a lack of standardised metrics and measures to determine the extent, mechanisms, and impact of community-based prevention. The session will therefore provide an overview of different approaches like the Icelandic Prevention Model/Planet Youth, Communities that Care, their benefits and drawbacks, and reflect upon ways forward for community-based research and practice.
