Local plan for the prevention of addictions and problematic use of screens in Mataró
Year:
2022
Comissioned by:
Main objective:
To provide technical support for the elaboration of the Local Plan for the Prevention of Addiction and Problematic Use of Screens of Mataró.
Summary:
Episteme collaborated with the City Council of Mataró and the Diputació de Barcelona to develop the new Local Plan for the Prevention of Addictions and Problematic Use of Screens (2023-2027). Prevention plans for the prevention of addiction, whether to substances or not, are essential tools for planning public health policies in municipalities and ensuring decent living conditions for the entire population. In this way, the prevention plans help to formulate a local strategy against addiction, both in terms of prevention and in terms of intervention and treatment of addictive behaviours, and are therefore very useful for all citizens, whether they are in an addiction situation or not.
Episteme provided technical consultancy services specialised in addictions in order to develop a local plan for the prevention of addiction and problematic screen use that would be meaningful and adapted to the needs of the municipality of Mataró. To this end, we carried out a diagnosis of the real situation of substance and screen use among the young people of Mataró. To do this, we used a series of quantitative and qualitative techniques that allowed us to map the reality that Mataró was experiencing at the time. Over a period of four months, we carried out 393 surveys, 13 interviews and 3 focus groups. We also collected quantitative indicators from the CASO (Centre for Attention and Monitoring of Drug Addiction), the local police and the Mossos d’Esquadra.
Once the fieldwork was complete, we wrote up the results of the needs assessment in a total of 183 pages. Based on the main conclusions, we drafted the main objectives that Mataró needed to address over the next five years, divided into seven areas of action (education, leisure and recreation, community, health, media, evaluation, and coordination and management). Once the objectives had been agreed with the City Council, we presented them to the Plan’s Technical Committee. The objectives were prioritised according to Mataró’s existing needs, and we then designed the related activities.
The whole process was supported by the Mataró City Council and the Diputació de Barcelona, institutions with which we met monthly for a year. Finally, we drafted the introduction, the theoretical and legal framework and the layout of the whole plan. The result is a Local Plan for the Prevention of Addiction and Problematic Screen Use of more than 300 pages, which will be the basis for the continued implementation of good policies for prevention, intervention and treatment of addictive behaviour in the municipality of Mataró.
Keywords:
Local prevention plans, public policies, intervention, approach, Mataró, Barcelona Provincial Council.
