Prevention and education is key to protect children from substance misuse

Issued by NHS Highland

An event to support children and young people to make healthy choices around substance use was held in Inverness yesterday (Thursday, 21st June 2018).

The “Preventing Substance Use Among Children and Young People in Highland” event was held in Culloden and aims to empower children and young people through prevention and education in school and beyond.

The event was attended by over 100 professionals from across Highland and was facilitated by the Highland Alcohol and Drugs Partnership (HADP).

HADP co-ordinator Debbie Stewart said: “The event was an opportunity for representatives from NHS Highland, the Highland Council, Police Scotland and a number of Third Sector, voluntary and charitable organisations to discuss how we can improve support and education for children and young people around the dangers of substance use.

“We also launched a series of new lesson plans devised by NHS Highland and the Highland Council which were piloted by several schools and partner organisations. They are now available to download on the Highland Substance Awareness Toolkit website – an online library providing information about tobacco, alcohol and drugs for young people, parents/carers and professionals.”

The Highland Council’s children’s planning manager Ian Kyle said: “We are pleased to announce our new award Substance Aware School Award to recognise and reward consistent, ongoing approaches to prevent substance use among young people across the Highlands.

“The initiative is a joint partnership between the Highland Alcohol and Drugs Partnership, The Highland Council, NHS Highland, and Police Scotland and further information on how to apply is on the Highland Substance Awareness Toolkit website.”

The Highland Council’s health development officer Kirsty Baird said: “We would like to thank all the attendees, colleagues and presenters for a fantastic day in improving substance misuse education and prevention in Highland for children and young people in school and beyond.”

NHS Highland’ health improvement specialist Eve MacLeod said: “We hope that the Toolkit will prove useful to parents, carers, teachers, health professionals and children and young people.

“The online resource is presented in a format that is easy to share and open a dialogue with children and young people around the dangers of substance use and the support networks that are available to them.”

The Substance Awareness Toolkit is available to view and download at www.highlandsubstanceawareness.scot.nhs.uk/substance-misuse-toolkit .