Substance Abuse
Prevention: Internetbased
Objectives
-
To increase awareness about the effects of drugs
& To promote healthy living
-
Audience: Teenagers (13-18 years old)
- Method: Online intervention - Using social
media account to disperse information (easy
access to young people) – Instagram
-
Topic/Content: promote healthy living – selfcare (i.e. sports, self-management, hobbies, life
skills training (resistance skills), participate free
Drugs Statistics 2019 (Age) https://www.adk.gov.my/en/public/drugs-statistics/
https:https://www.adk.gov.my/en/public/drugsstatistics///www.adk.gov.my/en/dsfpubjkllic/drugs-statistics/
Why drug abuse is choosen?
Risk of drug use increases greatly during times of
transition.
Especially teenager, risky times include moving, family
divorce, or changing schools. When children advance
from elementary through middle school, they face new
and challenging social, family, and academic situations.
Often during this period, children are exposed to
substances such as cigarettes and alcohol for the first
time.
Because the brain is still developing, using drugs at this
age has more potential to disrupt brain function in areas
critical to motivation, memory, learning, judgment, and
behavior control.
Web-based interventions (WBI)
Online interventions, or web-based interventions (WBIs): professional service
for selective prevention that is delivered via the internet; includes interactive
elements, computer-assisted behavior therapies, education, prevention, and
information interventions; and provides individual feedback for young drug
users
possible to deliver interventions to large numbers of people at relatively low
cost, ensure that the intervention is accessible 24 hours a day. Therefore, it is
available at critical moments, enables anonymity, increases engagement
through the use of interactive methods such as video streaming and sharing
resources
Social Media as a Tool
With wide reach and user engagement, social media tools offer a phenomenal
opportunity to use social interactions to engage young people in behavior change
interventions and to foster socially supportive communities for quitting
Social media can also provide opportunities for creating online communities
that support recovery from drug addiction
Interactive element
To motivate users to remain on the website: incorporating interactive features,
such as educational games, fun apps that attract the user to the website, and
consultant feedback.
Young people do not want to be lectured, but they need to be encouraged and
motivated to change the pattern of drug use.
incorporate some playful elements, such as quizzes and games, and the ability to
share with other (former) users
Various interactive elements, such as self-testing, games, structured
intervention programs, quizzes, chat functionality, forums, and email
functionality
Evaluation
These techniques are perceived as reliable, efficient, and able to provide users
with useful information and skills, although several aspects require further, indepth assessment.
Online interventions should provide easy access to young people, especially
those who would not seek help or advice in a conventional way and cannot be
reached through traditional approaches.
They were invited to evaluate the attractiveness and usefulness of the service
on a scale from 1 to 10, stating which aspects they liked. They were also asked
which aspects needed improvement, what they thought the specific service was
missing, and, finally, if they would recommend the app to their friends
References
Tomazic, T & Jerkovic, O. S. (2020). Online interventions for the selective prevention of illicit drug use in young drug
users: Exploratory study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(4). doi:10.2196/17688. Retrived from:
https://www.jmir.org/2020/4/e17688/
National Institute on Drug Abuse. Retrieved from: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugs-brains-behaviorscience-addiction/preventing-drug-misuse-addiction-beststrategy#:~:text=Remember%2C%20drugs%20change%20the%20brain,greatly%20during%20times%20of%20transition.
Drugs Statistics – Laman Web Rasmi Agensi Anti Dadah Kebangsaan. (2020). Retrieved from:
https://www.adk.gov.my/en/public/drugs-statistics/