Master Trainers at an EU scale to ensure quality

The EU-DAP Faculty works at an arm’s length from the EU-Dap Network. The overarching goal of the EU-DAP Faculty is to ensure quality of efficacy tested school-based programmes based on a Comprehensive Social Influence model by Training Trainers. The interactive training of trainers is evidence based and an indispensable component in such prevention programmes.

The EU-DAP study involved the testing of a programme named “Unplugged”. Unplugged is a Comprehensive Social Influence programme consisting of 12 lessons which are delivered during a school semester by the teacher to students aged 12 to 14.

Unplugged has been tested during a robust Randomized Controlled Trial with 7.079 pupils in 2005 with results that include a decreased chance for recent drunkenness by 30%, for daily smoking by 28% and for cannabis use by 23%, see EU-DAP Network (Link to www.eudap.net) website. A follow-up one year later showed that effectiveness was sustained for most of the behaviours. It was concluded that “Unplugged” is an effective programme to delay the onset of drug use and the transition of experimenting to frequent drug use. The “Unplugged” programme and training model has been tested and is sound, the material is translated and available in several languages.

Ensuring the quality of “Unplugged”: a Comprehensive Social Influence Programme.

The Faculty works at an arm’s length from the EU--Dap Network which is made up of organizations in EU-Member States that Sweden, Spain and Austria are responsible for “Unplugged” within their countries and other EU-Member States have expressed interest to join.

Further disseminating credible training is necessary to contribute to capacity-building, standardization and sharing expertise when planning and implementing Drug Prevention and Information programmes at the country level.

Master Trainers at the EU Level

The Faculty creates a centrally managed European network of professionals with the responsibility to update and supervise contents and methods of programme application. A particular group in this network consists of Master Trainers, one in each country involved. Master Trainers are responsible for the design and dissemination of training to be delivered to the final providers namely school teachers.

Certified Master Trainers train trainers at the local level

The EU-DAP Faculty in conjunction with the EU-Dap Network supports Master Trainers whom are responsible to train and certify trainers, namely teachers, and disseminate the Unplugged programme at the local level. Today there are 15 local Networks.

Unplugged and other prevention programmes

The Faculty works primarily to disseminate and support the implementation of the “Unplugged” programme, but also supports other prevention programmes based on a Comprehensive Social Influence model.

An efficient network of Master Trainers whom are able to implement quality training and certify trainers is an important contribution to the efforts of the European Union to assure qualitative and evidence-based drug abuse prevention programmes in schools.

Financial support: European Commission, Directorate-General Justice, Freedom And Security, Directorate C: Drug Prevention And Information, Rights And Citizenship, Grant Application Specific Transnational Projects.

The Project Coordinating Centre is the: University College Ghent, Faculty for Social Work and Social Welfare Studies SOAG, Hogeschool Gent (Belgium)

Faculty Coordinator: Peer van der Kreeft (Belgium)

Project partners:
OED Osservatorio Epidemiologico delle Dipendenze, Region Piemonte, Italy
Pyxida, Thessaloniki, Greece
The Mentor Foundation, Loughborough, United Kingdom
Charles University in Prague, 1st Medical Faculty, Centre for Addictology, Prague, Czech Republic

Associate partners:
Karolinska Institutet, Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Applied Public Health, Stockholm, Sweden
EDEX Centro de Recursos Comunitarios, Bilbao, Spain
University of L’Aquila, Department of Internal Medicine and Public Health, L’Aquila, Italy
Institut für Sozial- und Gesundheitspsychologie: ISG, Vienna, Austria
Poznan University of Medical Science, Department of Toxicology, Poznan, Poland
OED / Piedmont Centre for Drug Addiction Epidemiology, Turin, Italy

Duration of the project:
December 2008 – December 2011

EU-Dap TOT network: European Drug Abuse Prevention training of trainers network project was granted by the European Commission and cofinanced by participting countries.