Empowering young people to make Positive Choices: Evidence-based resources for the prevention of alcohol and other drug use in Australian schools

Stapinski, Lexine; Lawler, Siobhan; Newton, Nicola; Reda, Bill; Chapman, Cath; Teesson, Maree

doi:10.18793/lcj2017.21.12

Cited by 14 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The development process was informed by the latest available literature and data on crystal methamphetamine use [ 2 , 4 , 7 , 8 , 20 - 22 ] and drug education [ 23 ] and was developed in collaboration with community members across Australia and expert collaborators. Development occurred across 3 specific phases, which are outlined below:…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A key aim of this project was to bring together the best available evidence and resources about crystal methamphetamine rather than creating entirely new material. As such, the next step in the content development process was to review existing resources developed by members of the project team for the Positive Choices portal [ 23 , 25 ]. This portal houses evidence-based drug education resources and factsheets for school students, parents, and teachers, including those related to methamphetamine, which were developed in relation to the latest available literature.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Web-Based Toolkit to Provide Evidence-Based Resources About Crystal Methamphetamine for the Australian Community: Collaborative Development of Cracks in the Ice

et al. 2018

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BackgroundThe use of crystal methamphetamine (ice) and the associated harms for individuals, families, and communities across Australia has been the subject of growing concern in recent years. The provision of easily accessible, evidence-based, and up-to-date information and resources about crystal methamphetamine for the community is a critical component of an effective public health response.ObjectiveThis paper aims to describe the codevelopment process of the Web-based Cracks in the Ice Community Toolkit, which was developed to improve access to evidence-based information and resources about crystal methamphetamine for the Australian community.MethodsDevelopment of the Cracks in the Ice Community Toolkit was conducted in collaboration with community members across Australia and with experts working in the addiction field. The iterative process involved the following: (1) consultation with end users, including community members, crystal methamphetamine users, families and friends of someone using crystal methamphetamine, health professionals, and teachers (n=451) via a cross-sectional Web-based survey to understand information needs; (2) content and Web development; and (3) user testing of a beta version of the Web-based toolkit among end users (n=41) and experts (n=10) to evaluate the toolkit’s acceptability, relevance, and appeal.ResultsInitial end user consultation indicated that the most commonly endorsed reasons for visiting a website about crystal methamphetamine were “to get information for myself” (185/451, 41.0%) and “to find out how to help a friend or a family member” (136/451, 30.2%). Community consultation also revealed the need for simple information about crystal methamphetamine, including what it is, its effects, and when and where to seek help or support. Feedback on a beta version of the toolkit was positive in terms of content, readability, layout, look, and feel. Commonly identified areas for improvement related to increasing the level of engagement and personal connection, improving the ease of navigation, and balancing a “low prevalence of use, yet high impact” message. A total of 9138 users visited the website in the 3 months immediately post launch, and over 25,000 hard-copy Cracks in the Ice booklets and flyers were distributed across Australia. Of these resources, 60.93% (15,525/25,480) were distributed to relevant organizations and mailing list subscribers, and 39.07% (9955/25,480) were ordered directly by individuals, services, and community groups via the Cracks in the Ice website.ConclusionsThe codevelopment process resulted in an engaging Web-based resource for the Australian community to access up-to-date and evidence-based resources about crystal methamphetamine. The Cracks in the Ice Community Toolkit provides much-needed information and support for individuals, families, and communities.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Web-Based Toolkit to Provide Evidence-Based Resources About Crystal Methamphetamine for the Australian Community: Collaborative Development of Cracks in the Ice

et al. 2018

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“…Collaborations between the health and education sectors have demonstrated positive results in reducing adolescent substance use. For example, research exploring the role of a school health coordinator (O'Brien et al, 2010), a nationwide transdisciplinary health promotion approach (Sigfusdottir et al, 2011) and an online substance use prevention support portal for educators (Stapinski et al, 2017) has demonstrated that health agencies engaging with schools in various ways can help to promote the implementation of substance use prevention programs and support schools in preventing and reducing student substance use. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of public health engagement (PHE) in school-based substance use prevention programs on student substance use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between public health engagement in school-based substance use prevention programs and student alcohol, cannabis, e-cigarette and cigarette use

Burnett

Battista

Butt

et al. 2022

Can J Public Health

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Objective This study examined the associations between public health engagement (PHE) in school-based substance use prevention programs and student substance use. For the purposes of this study, PHE refers to any form of collaboration between the local government public health agency and the school to promote the physical and mental health of students. Methods Data for this study were collected from the Cannabis, Obesity, Mental health, Physical activity, Alcohol use, Smoking and Sedentary behaviour (COMPASS) study during the 2018/2019 data collection year. Multilevel logistic regression was used to analyze the associations between PHE and student substance use. Results Data from 84 schools and 42,149 students were included; 70% of schools had PHE in substance use prevention programs. PHE in substance use prevention appears to have had no significant impact on student substance use in our models. When PHE was divided into five methods of engagement, it was found that when public health solved problems jointly with schools, the odds of a student using alcohol or cannabis significantly increased. When schools were split into low- and high-use schools for each substance measured, some methods of PHE significantly decreased the odds of cannabis and cigarette use in high-use schools and significantly increased the odds of alcohol and cannabis use in low-use schools. Conclusion This study highlights the need to develop better partnerships and collaborations between public health and schools, and the importance of ensuring that school-based substance use prevention programs are evidence-based and tailored to the specific needs of schools and students.

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“…More recently, our 2017 survey of Australian schoolteachers found that <25% of teachers had implemented evidence-based AOD education programs. The study identified lack of confidence, resources, time, and support from school; attitude of parents and students; and difficulty in communicating as the main barriers to implementing programs [ 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The initiative responds to a call from school principals for support to implement evidence-based AOD prevention resources (Australian National Council on Drugs; 2013) and was developed iteratively with experts and end users. School staff, parents, and students provided input and feedback across two phases (for full details refer to the study by Stapinski et al [ 25 ]): (1) formative consultation to clarify scope and identify user needs and (2) review and feedback on a beta version of the website [ 35 ]. The final website was launched in December 2015 and provides web-based training, support, and access to a centralized database of evidence-based AOD prevention programs, recommendations, and resources [ 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of Positive Choices, a National Initiative to Disseminate Evidence-Based Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Strategies: Web-Based Survey Study

Stapinski¹,

Nepal²,

Guckel³

et al. 2022

JMIR Pediatr Parent

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Background To prevent adolescents from initiating alcohol and other drug use and reduce the associated harms, effective strategies need to be implemented. Despite their availability, effective school-based programs and evidence-informed parental guidelines are not consistently implemented. The Positive Choices alcohol and other drug prevention initiative and website was launched to address this research and practice gap. The intended end users were school staff, parents, and school students. An 8-month postlaunch evaluation of the website showed that end users generally had positive feedback on the website’s usability, and following its use, most of them would consider the evidence base and effectiveness of drug education resources. This study extends this initial evaluation by examining the effectiveness and impact of the Positive Choices initiative over a 3-year period. Objective Guided by the five dimensions of the RE-AIM (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance) framework, the study assessed the impact of the Positive Choices initiative in increasing awareness and implementation of evidence-based drug prevention. Methods Data were collected between 2017 and 2019, using web-based evaluation and community awareness surveys. Data from the surveys were merged to examine reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance using descriptive statistics. Google Analytics was used to further understand the reach of the website. The System Usability Scale was used to measure website usability. In addition, inductive analysis was used to assess the participants’ feedback about Positive Choices. Results A total of 5 years after launching, the Positive Choices website has reached 1.7 million users. A national Australian campaign increased awareness from 8% to 14% among school staff and from 15% to 22% among parents after the campaign. Following a brief interaction with the website, most participants, who were not already following the recommended strategies, reported an intention to shift toward evidence-based practices. The System Usability Scale score for the website was good for both user groups. The participants intended to maintain their use of the Positive Choices website in the future. Both user groups reported high level of confidence in communicating about topics related to alcohol and other drugs. Participants’ suggestions for improvement informed a recent website update. Conclusions The Positive Choices website has the capacity to be an effective strategy for disseminating evidence-based drug prevention information and resources widely. The findings highlight the importance of investing in ongoing maintenance and promotion to enhance awareness of health websites. With the increased use and acceptability of health education websites, teams should ensure that websites are easy to navigate, are engaging, use simple language, contain evidence-informed resources, and are supported by ongoing promotional activities.

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Empowering young people to make Positive Choices: Evidence-based resources for the prevention of alcohol and other drug use in Australian schools

Cited by 14 publications

References 20 publications

A Web-Based Toolkit to Provide Evidence-Based Resources About Crystal Methamphetamine for the Australian Community: Collaborative Development of Cracks in the Ice

A Web-Based Toolkit to Provide Evidence-Based Resources About Crystal Methamphetamine for the Australian Community: Collaborative Development of Cracks in the Ice

The association between public health engagement in school-based substance use prevention programs and student alcohol, cannabis, e-cigarette and cigarette use

Evaluation of Positive Choices, a National Initiative to Disseminate Evidence-Based Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Strategies: Web-Based Survey Study

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