Evaluation of Prevention Programs in Colombia: Evidence, Results, and Lessons for the Prevention of Substance Use in Young People.
This webinar discusses preventive programs aimed at young people of different ages, with the purpose of increasing the age of initiation of alcohol and other substance use, and addressing protective and risk factors. The three organizations of the consortium that make up ISSUP Colombia Chapter, will present the generalities and evaluations of their programs. The programs will be presented:
- IBEM (in its modalities for adolescents and university students), which seeks to delay the age of onset of alcohol consumption, discourage its consumption for those who already use it, and reduce their level of risk. The program is carried out in a personalized way, in two or three meetings. The effectiveness evaluation showed that at least two sessions with intervals of less than three months should be done to obtain good results. The efficacy evaluation showed a decrease in prevalence in the last month of 15% and two times less probability of consuming alcohol in the second and third encounters than those who did not have any IBEM encounters. For its part, IBEM-U demonstrated that it is an effective intervention to address episodic compulsive consumption in the university population.
- Yomi Vida: Program aimed at promoting the acquisition of healthy lifestyles as a protective strategy against the vulnerability of the consumption of psychoactive substances, through the improvement of the competencies of teachers to carry out prevention articulated to school curricula, improve the competencies of students to face risks that lead to the initiation or problematization of SPA consumption and reduce social tolerance towards SPA consumption in parents. mothers and significant adults. An evaluation carried out in 2023 in a municipality in the department of Antioquia showed that there were positive changes in attitudes; prosocial help; respectful relationships with family and friends; improvement in self-care habits; knowledge of the risks related to drug use; and the preference for the consumption of healthy foods. YOMI Vida has been very well received by children, parents and teachers.
CEMA-PEMA (Stages of Abuse Modification Questionnaire and Stages of Abuse Modification Program): Brief Motivational Intervention (BIM) aimed at encouraging young people to use psychological processes to move from stages of preparation for change to real action. The groups that received the intervention showed significant changes compared to those who did not intervene. The willingness to change was notably higher in the intervention groups (scores of 14.95 and 15.74) versus the control groups (9.26 and 11.23), a difference that was statistically significant.
The intervened students increased the use of change processes, especially in awareness and control of social stimuli, while the non-intervention groups did not show changes. In addition, 73.5% of those operated reached stages close to action, compared to only 61.8% in the control groups. In terms of risk of consumption, the intervention groups reduced cases of excessive consumption and increased the proportion of risk-free consumption. On the contrary, the control group without intervention showed a significant deterioration, increasing from 2 to 8 people with excessive consumption and from 5 to 8 with risky consumption.
The brain grows with you: Brief Motivational Intervention (BMI) aimed at reducing the susceptibility of young people to tobacco use, through the promotion of lifestyles that favor positive neurodevelopment. The results showed a significant reduction in susceptibility to tobacco use, decreasing from 56.5% of susceptible students before the intervention to 42.2% after. No changes were observed in risky consumption, which was expected given that 84.41% of the participants were not tobacco users. The analysis revealed that the reduction in susceptibility was mainly associated with changes in subjective norms (social influence) and partial modifications in future expectations about consumption, but there were no significant changes in perceived self-efficacy. The intervention was effective for non-smoking students and those with experimental consumption.
Target audience:
- This webinar is useful for decision-makers at the local and national level, for health and social sciences professionals who work with vulnerable populations and are looking for the implementation of evidence-based programs. It is also aimed at young professionals or trainees who wish to learn about national programmes and how to evaluate them.
Learning outcomes:
Participants attending the seminar are expected to be able to:
- Describe the main components of four evidence-based prevention programs implemented by the ISSUP Colombia Chapter (IBEM, Yomi Vida, CEMA-PEMA, and El cerebro crece contigo).
- Identify effective strategies to delay the onset of alcohol and other substance use in different age groups, from school-age children to college students.
- Explain the importance of evaluation in improving the design, implementation, and effectiveness of preventive programs.
- Apply learnings from the presented programs to design or adapt evidence-based and cost-effective prevention interventions in their own contexts.
References:
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Mejía-Trujillo, J., Candel, M., Pérez-Gómez, A., Mercken, L., & de Vries, H. (Under review). Effects of a brief intervention on alcohol consumption and heavy episodic drinking among university students in Colombia. Results of a randomized controlled trial. Drug and alcohol dependence.
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Reyes-Rodríguez, M.F., Pinto-Gómez, J.C., Cardozo-Macías, F., Pérez-Gómez, A., Mejía-Trujillo, J., & Toro-Bermúdez, J. (2020). Evaluation of the prevention program "Brief Intervention based on Motivational Interviewing" in Colombian adolescents. Int J Ment Health Addiction 18(2), 471-481. DOI 10.1007/s11469-019-0057-3
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Reyes-Rodríguez, M., Mejía-Trujillo, J., Pérez-Gómez, A., Cardozo, F., & Pinto, C. (2018) Effectiveness of a Brief Intervention based on Motivational Interviewing in Colombian Adolescents. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 33, 1-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/0102.3772e33421
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Flórez-Alarcón, L.; Vélez-Botero, H. & Claro Gálvez, A. M. (2017). Pacts for Life: A Strategy to Reduce Problematic Alcohol Use. In: Cabarcas Acosta, K. L.; Londoño Pérez, C.; Puli-do Garzón, D. C. & Vélez-Botero, H. (Eds) (2017). Pacts for Life: An Evidence-Based Prevention Experience: A Critical Approach (ISBN: 978-958-8934-46-4). Bogotá: Universidad Católica de Colombia, 45-60.
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Lamprey, et al (2021). Effects of acute stress on the performance of spatial memory tasks in rats exposed to chronic nicotine during adolescence and early adulthood (44592). FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT OF STeI programs and projects. MinCiencias.
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UNAL (2020). Tobacco use in adolescents is prevented with pedagogy. https://agenciadenoticias.unal.edu.co/detalle/consumo-de-tabaco-en-adolescentes-se-previene-con-pedagogia
Presenters:
Augusto Perez-Gomez, Ph.D.
Psychologist at the National University of Colombia and Ph.D. in Psychology from the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. He was a full professor at the Universidad de los Andes and a Visiting Professor at the Universities of London (United Kingdom) and New Jersey (United States). He was also Presidential Advisor on matters related to alcohol and drug consumption. In 1992 he received the National Award for Psychology and in 2006 the National Award of Excellence in Blending Research and Practice of the National Hispanic Science Network of the United States. He is currently the director of the Corporación Nuevos Rumbos, which he has directed since 2002. To date, he has published 19 books and 241 articles in Spanish, English, French, German and Portuguese (in that order).
Helena Vélez Botero
Master's degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Health Psychology from the National University of Colombia, Psychologist. Extensive career as an undergraduate and graduate teacher. Experience as a health psychologist. Associate researcher of the Research Group "Lifestyle and Human Development". He is currently developing applied research processes on the use of brief motivational intervention in the health-disease process and its use in specific areas such as the field of school health.
Silverio Espinal Bedoya.
Psychologist from the University of Antioquia (Colombia). Head of the Technical Division of the Surgir Corporation (Medellín, Colombia), with extensive experience in the design and implementation of prevention and harm reduction programs for the consumption of psychoactive substances; as well as in research processes in this area.
Moderator:
Juliana Mejía-Trujillo
Juliana is a Social Worker, with a master's degree in Anthropology, PhD candidate at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. Currently, she works with Corporación Nuevos Rumbos as Director of Prevention, and has been responsible for the implementation of several prevention projects in Colombia and other Latin American countries, like Mexico, Chile, and Brazil. She is also TA for the Media-based Substance Use Prevention program delivered by Claremont Graduate University and CICAD/OEA. To date, she is the author and co-author of more than 40 publications, including books, book chapters, and several articles in Spanish, English, and Portuguese.
Webinars and online events presented and hosted by the International Society of Substance Use Professionals (ISSUP) are provided for informational purposes only. They are educational in nature and do not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
