The Centres for the Prevention of Addictions and Promotion of Psychosocial Health are structures in Greece that aim to provide free services for the prevention of addictions and the promotion of psychosocial health to everyone concerned. Currently, according to the latest data, there are 75 Prevention Centres in Greece and they are partnerships between the Anti-Drug Agency and local governments of primary and secondary organization (Municipalities and Regions). The need for the creation of CPs was initially initiated by the Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Athens, around the mid-1980s, when the first pilot programmes were implemented, based on those of other European countries (Sweden, Norway). These programmes did not focus on information about addictive substances and their consequences, but on the need to intervene in the causal factors that can contribute more broadly to the promotion of psychosocial health (training of parents to enhance their parenting skills, training of teachers in health education programmes, interventions with pupils to cultivate skills to resist the use of addictive substances, etc.). Subsequently, in 1995, OCANA, building on the above experience, started planning and implementing the development of a network of Prevention Centres throughout Greece with the participation of local authorities and associations. It chose to operate the Centres at local level, rather than centrally, in order to be able to respond in the best possible way to the specificities of each local community, but also to facilitate accessibility. The CPs are mainly subsidised by the Ministry of Health and Interior, while the responsibility for their scientific and financial supervision lies with Okanas. The CPs are evaluated financially and scientifically from the beginning of their establishment on an annual basis by the OCANA. They design and implement programmes for the prevention of addictions and the promotion of psychosocial health, based on a series of laws and bilateral Programme Agreements signed by the Civil Non-Profit Companies, which is the legal form of all the CSs, and by Okana.
The target groups addressed by the CS are determined by the specific needs of each local community, but in general they are.other Associations
– Special population groups (immigrants, refugees, Roma …)
– Juvenile offenders
– The wider community, such as the media, municipal councils, etc. The general objective of the services provided by the CPs depending on the above target group is:
– The mental empowerment and training of young people in psychosocial skills that will protect them from the use of addictive substances (smoking, alcohol, drugs), addictive behaviours (internet, gambling), bullying, high-risk behaviours (violence, eating disorders, delinquency) and contribute to the promotion of their psychosocial health. – Training parents in psychosocial skills that will help them to better fulfil their parental role (managing boundaries in the family, awareness of addictions, children’s developmental needs, etc.).
– The training of teachers at all levels in cooperation with the Ministry of Education for the implementation of health education programmes for the prevention of addictions and the protection of psychosocial health, as well as support in their professional role; – Counselling and treatment of individuals or families on addiction and mental health issues; – Organising lectures, conferences etc. to inform the wider community. – The implementation of surveys on high-risk behaviours in collaboration with EPIPSY/Universities etc. to design prevention interventions, etc. The CPs employ psychologists, sociologists, social workers and more generally humanities specialists, as well as administrative staff , with training and education. They employ about 270 people (plus about 130 vacancies) and more than 50% have postgraduate degrees. Greece according to the latest evaluation report of the National Centre for Documentation and Information on Drugs (NCDD, 2022) stands out for its service system in the prevention of addictions, mainly through the nationwide network of 75 Centres for the Prevention of Addictions and Promotion of Psychosocial Health. In addition to their constant work, the Prevention Centres also respond to many requests for psychosocial support which have intensified due to the pandemic. In addition, important actions have been taken in the last two years to ensure quality in prevention by integrating the European Quality Standards into the work of the Prevention Centres and by implementing the European training programme for prevention science in our country as well. In the same report it is noted that the CPs with their experience and scientific interventions have contributed to Greece being one of the first countries in Europe to reduce addiction in young people. Indicatively, it is also mentioned that only for the school community in 2019-2020, , despite the difficulties of the pandemic, interventions were implemented in 11,544 students in 355 schools in primary education and in 14,935 students in 309 schools in secondary education for the prevention of addictions, internet addiction, prevention of aggressive behavior and health education and promotion. At present, unfortunately, a bill entitled “Completion of the psychiatric reform” has been leaked, which, despite the success of the CPs, provides in Article 46 for their closure, as well as the general shrinking of addiction and mental health structures. It provides for the creation of an umbrella organisation (EOPAE) that follows the logic of ‘cost-benefit’ and does not support the diversity of interventions in prevention and treatment, but instead promotes physical rehabilitation, pharmacotherapy and the reinforcement of bureaucratic control even in prevention interventions, which must be based on a living relationship with local communities, feedback from them and careful observation of micro-social changes in the factors influencing the phenomenon of addiction. Prevention workers demand the withdrawal of the law that abolishes us and a dialogue from scratch. The closure of the Prevention Centres, or their structural change without dialogue and without a plan, will cause a huge blow to the school and wider community, losing a stable point of reference and depriving them of essential services, at a time when psychosocial health indicators appear particularly poor.
For the Scientific Committee
of the Association of Employees of the Prevention Centres
The Coordinator
Nikiforos Farconas
Sociologist
Prevention Centre Kos “Hippocrates”- North Dodecanese For the Board of Directors of the Association The President
Yannis Vythoulkas
Social Worker
Prevention Centre P.E. Zakynthos “Storgi” The General Secretary
Vaggelio Abazi
Psychologist
Prevention Centre P.E. Samos
“Faros”
