Delivering Prevention Messages on Recreational Legal Highs through Ict Tools. An Overview of the Eu Funded ReDNet Research Project.
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Abstract
Background:
The new telematic culture has brought new sets of behaviours, values and ideas, especially amongst young people. This is a fascinating phenomenon, but also a cause of global concern. We know that hundreds of websites are dedicated to the dissemination of new and ever-more sophisticated recreational drugs which are unknown to health professionals and can remain unregulated for a long period of time. These might well have widespread and long-term effects in users.
In the 21st century the most important thing in drug prevention is innovation. Traditional forms of intervention are focused on traditional drugs and are often fear based and moralistic.
The RedNet philosophy, grounded in the principle of harm reduction, is that by enhancing knowledge and understanding of novel compounds using technological tools as well as empowering young people and helping them to take control of their lives we can reduce health risks associated with drug use.
Objectives:
The Recreational Drugs European Network (ReDNet) is an European wide collaborative research project with the objective of constituting one of the first ICT prevention programmes designed for novel psychoactive compounds in the field of eHealth prevention across Europe.
The project is funded by the European Commission Executive Agency for Health and Consumers in the framework of the Public Health Programme.
Methods:
The project will pilot various ICT prevention tools, these will include: SMS alerts, social networking (Facebook, Twitter), Multimedia (You Tube), Smart phone applications (iPhone), and Virtual worlds (Second Life).
Following on from the findings of the Psychonaut Web Mapping project (www.psychonautproject.eu) which identified more than 400 novel compounds and combinations, the ReDNet research project aims to:
- share knowledge and information with health and other professionals and raise awareness of the potential harms associated with new drugs;
- enhance scientific knowledge and understanding of novel compounds and combinations;
- provide the first prevention programme for young people (16-24 years old) who generally don’t have access to appropriate information on novel recreational drugs (the online community, secondary school students, university students, etc );
- develop an ICT-based model which effectively targets vulnerable individuals and also empowers them to take control over their lives, increase awareness of the numerous risks associated with drug use, in particular legal highs which are of serious concern because of the misconception that they are ‘safe’ by a number of the users.
Results and Conclusion:
The presentation will focus on the background, early developments and findings of the project which include outcomes from the focus groups with target groups (young people and health professionals) as well as the initial implementation of these prevention activities with SecondLife, SMS and other ICT tools.
The new telematic culture has brought new sets of behaviours, values and ideas, especially amongst young people. This is a fascinating phenomenon, but also a cause of global concern. We know that hundreds of websites are dedicated to the dissemination of new and ever-more sophisticated recreational drugs which are unknown to health professionals and can remain unregulated for a long period of time. These might well have widespread and long-term effects in users.
In the 21st century the most important thing in drug prevention is innovation. Traditional forms of intervention are focused on traditional drugs and are often fear based and moralistic.
The RedNet philosophy, grounded in the principle of harm reduction, is that by enhancing knowledge and understanding of novel compounds using technological tools as well as empowering young people and helping them to take control of their lives we can reduce health risks associated with drug use.
Objectives:
The Recreational Drugs European Network (ReDNet) is an European wide collaborative research project with the objective of constituting one of the first ICT prevention programmes designed for novel psychoactive compounds in the field of eHealth prevention across Europe.
The project is funded by the European Commission Executive Agency for Health and Consumers in the framework of the Public Health Programme.
Methods:
The project will pilot various ICT prevention tools, these will include: SMS alerts, social networking (Facebook, Twitter), Multimedia (You Tube), Smart phone applications (iPhone), and Virtual worlds (Second Life).
Following on from the findings of the Psychonaut Web Mapping project (www.psychonautproject.eu) which identified more than 400 novel compounds and combinations, the ReDNet research project aims to:
- share knowledge and information with health and other professionals and raise awareness of the potential harms associated with new drugs;
- enhance scientific knowledge and understanding of novel compounds and combinations;
- provide the first prevention programme for young people (16-24 years old) who generally don’t have access to appropriate information on novel recreational drugs (the online community, secondary school students, university students, etc );
- develop an ICT-based model which effectively targets vulnerable individuals and also empowers them to take control over their lives, increase awareness of the numerous risks associated with drug use, in particular legal highs which are of serious concern because of the misconception that they are ‘safe’ by a number of the users.
Results and Conclusion:
The presentation will focus on the background, early developments and findings of the project which include outcomes from the focus groups with target groups (young people and health professionals) as well as the initial implementation of these prevention activities with SecondLife, SMS and other ICT tools.
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