Policy recommendations

Communication on EU Alcohol Strategy (2006) Main goal: To prevent and cut back heavy drinking & underage drinking To support and complement national public health policies, by recognizing different cultural habits No intention to propose a harmonised legislation! 5 priority themes Protect young people Develop and maintain a common evidence base at EU level Mapping actions put in place by EU or Member states Good practices Areas where further progress could be made Multi-stakeholder and multi-sector action hans.berten@ugent.be

AAA-Prevent Research Education Innovation A means to attain these goals for its member states hans.berten@ugent.be

Policy recommendations Input data Quantitative analyses Qualitative analyses ISRD-2 25 countries Regional seminar 1 Alcohol policies Regional seminar 2 Prevention programs Ghent seminar Focus groups Policy recommendations hans.berten@ugent.be

Recommendation 1: Person-related prevention Empowering young people with the necessarily skills ISRD: Self-control one the most powerful predictors of alcohol use Up-to-date information Working interactively and involving students as actors in this educational practice Focus on positive messages hans.berten@ugent.be

Recommendation 2: Structural prevention Widely adopted in the domain of regulation Availability & taxation of alcohol Consumer information Drink-driving policy Much less in settings were teenagers spent most of their time Family, school, peers, neigbourhood Relates to the findings in the ISRD analyses, i.e. the underlying causes of alcohol use Most effective at the local level hans.berten@ugent.be

Example: Schools Changes needed in order to increase students’ well-being Better physical and psychosocial school environment Appropriate training for teachers in working pro-actively and person-centered Better cooperation with local agencies that work with youth Changes needed when existing structures tend to reproduce inequalities: e.g. streaming leads to gradients Postponement of the definitive choice till upper secondary school Better appreciation of students in vocational tracks Tailored health education to the needs of specific learning styles hans.berten@ugent.be

Recommendation 3: Evidence-based prevention Catch 22 Absence of a culture of evaluation hans.berten@ugent.be

Recommendation 4: Diffusion of knowledge Database of best practices Sharing knowledge concerning effective programmes To identify other relevant programmes Possibilities of implementation What works for which groups and under which conditions www.aaaprevent.eu/strategies hans.berten@ugent.be

Some overall conclusions Prevention= to change behaviour when people are young Integral holistic approach: All voices in the same direction! Parents, teachers, social workers, medicines, etc More need for training! Civil society, consumer organizations, alcohol industry, social & cultural sector, … Little progress in the field of alcohol prevention is expected unless public awareness is high Community readiness! Uniform message ≠ harmonized strategies hans.berten@ugent.be