Discuss the three levels of intervention in substance abuse prevention

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: Substance abuse prevention takes place at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels of intervention. Each level of intervention has its own target population and specific goals. Primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary prevention populations vary according to the extent of prior drug use.

In primary prevention, efforts are directed to those who have not had any experience with drugs or those who have been only minimally exposed. The objective is to prevent substance abuse from starting in the first place, "nipping the problem in the bud" so to
speak. Targets in primary prevention programs are most frequently elementary school or middle school youths, and intervention usually occurs within a school-based curriculum or specific educational program, though community involvement is encouraged. For example, a primary prevention program would include the development of peer-refusal skills that students can use when offered marijuana, alcohol, or cigarettes (that is, teaching "ways to say no").
In secondary prevention, the target population has already had some experience with alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs. The objective is to limit the extent of substance abuse (reducing it, if possible), prevent its spread of abuse behavior beyond the drugs already
encountered, and teach strategies for the responsible use of alcohol if the legal minimum age has been met. Ordinarily, those individuals receiving secondary prevention efforts are older than those involved in primary- prevention programs. Secondary prevention efforts are consistent with the philosophy of Harm Reduction rather than Zero Tolerance of drug-taking behavior

In tertiary prevention, the objective is to ensure that an individual who has entered treatment for some form of substance abuse or substance dependence problem becomes drug-free after treatment has ended and does not revert to former patterns of drug-taking behavior. Successful prevention of relapse is the ultimate indication that the treatment has taken hold.
Issues related to tertiary prevention will be reviewed later in the chapter.

The potential for young people to engage in drug use themselves is substantial,
and only through effective primary prevention can we keep that potential from turning into reality. It is increasingly clear that the age of onset for drug-taking behavior of any kind is a key factor in determining problems later in life, particularly with respect to licit drugs.

In the case of secondary prevention, we are concentrating on the life-style of a somewhat older population, and our goal is to minimize the problems associated with drug-taking behavior, assuming that some level of that behavior already exists. Emphasis is placed on social alternatives to behaviors involving alcohol and other drugs among high school students. At the college level, the moderate use of alcohol, the avoidance of alcohol binging in particular, and education about the personal risks of some of the newer club drugs and the nonmedical use of prescription medications are all elements in a program of secondary prevention.