Mark McPherson Consulting

Case Study 6

    

Guiding principles for the design and development of drug education curricula

   

This set of Guiding Principles is contained within a report which report lays the foundation for a working science of drug education. It describes a three-step model:

   

  1. A rigorous needs assessment.
  2. The development of sound educational and psychological strategies.
  3. Evaluation that recognizes the need to measure the effect on behaviour.

   

The principles are:

  1. The prevalence of drug taking behaviours must be sufficiently high in the population to warrant resource allocation.
  2. The epidemiological risks associated with behaviour must be substantiated.
  3. The motivations of the target population must be determined.
  4. Small victories are better than large failures.
  5. Behaviour change should be the ultimate aim of drug education.
  6. Failed programs should not be promoted.
  7. Time should only be granted to those strategies which are likely to work.
  8. Skills may be a necessary bridge to change.
  9. Curricula may not be the most suitable vehicle for achieving a reduction in drug taking.
  10. A potential drug education curriculum should be evaluated on a trial basis before delivery on a wider scale to the intended target population.

Case study 1        Case study 2        Case study 3         Case study 4            Case study 5        

                              Case study 7         Case study 8         Case study 9