Empowering parents organizations to prevent substance use

ended

The aim of this project is to adapt and evaluate a pilot implementation of the FERYA programme in two European countries. FERYA is designed to empower parents’ organizations to prevent risks related to substance use that affect their children. The elaboration of a prevention programme with a contextual approach including an evaluation model to examine empowerment of the organizations, assessment of their readiness to change, and strengthening their foundations to actively engage them in prevention will represent an important advance in the field of community-oriented capacity building for substance abuse prevention. Trained parents, as proactive agents, will act like seeds expanding prevention and having an impact at three levels: family, community and political/social level. As a result of the piloting and evaluation, the project will produce several key outputs: 1. A research-based programme for empowerment of parents’ organizations 2. A training programme for the implementers. 3. An evaluation model to evaluate subsequent interventions. 4. The consolidation of two working coalitions for programme sustainability and extension. 5. A dissemination strategy including the development of information-exchange tools and broad dissemination of project objectives and outcomes 6. SWOT analysis, recommendations for intervention practice and site-specific organizational readiness feedback report. 7. Tools for programme adaptation and transferability. 8. Database on prevention programmes and resources. BENEFICIARIES Short term - at least 600 organizations contacted. About 30 parents’ organizations engaged for project development, around 10 key agents participating in the working coalitions, and 60 parent-leaders trained. Medium term - about 500 parents participating in the activities developed by the parent-leaders, 1000 civil society organizations and 500 prevention experts and policy/decision makers informed on project development and outputs. Long term – Broad dissemi