Community Education Needs to be Supported by Strong Public Policy to Tackle Food Poverty

Community education needs to be supported by strong public policy if it is to be fully effective at tackling food poverty and obesity, a project evaluation by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) has found. In its evaluation of Decent Food for All (DFfA) - a major project to improve community diet and health - IPH found that where people live and shop had a greater impact on their diet than their own individual awareness and attitudes. Access Tackling Food Poverty: lessons from the Decent Food for All intervention at www.publichealth.ie DFfA was funded by safefood (the Food Safety Promotion Board) and the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland. The project lasted four years and included hundreds of community education activities designed to improve diet in poorer parts of Armagh and South Tyrone. safefood commissioned IPH to undertake the evaluation of DFfA. Dr. Kevin Balanda, IPH Associate Director, said 'The aim of the project was to reduce food poverty (this is defined as not being able to consume adequate healthy food) and improve health in the target communities. DFfA delivered over 370 core activities to 3,100 residents including local education talks on diet, cookery workshops, fresh fruit in schools, healthy food tastings and information stands. One in eight residents in the target areas participated in at least one of these activities.' The evaluation found that over 1 in 5 adults in the target areas reported they had cut their weekly food spending in the last six months to pay other household bills such as rent, electricity and gas. During the four years of the DFfA activities, this percentage had not changed significantly. There were mixed changes in the nature of food in local stores. While the overall availability and price of food increased, both ﾓhealthierﾔ food and ﾓunhealthierﾔ food were included in that increase. It was only in the larger ﾓmultiple/discount freezerﾔ type of shops that the overall price of food had decreased.

A Study of the Epidemiology of AIDS in Ireland and an Evaluation of an AIDS Education Programme in Second-level Schools

Second-level school students have been identified by the Minister for health as a priority group for education on AIDS. An education programme was accordingly initiated in 1988 in Community Care Area 1 in South county Dublin. This report evaluates this education intervention by means of pre- and post- intervention questionnaires. The questionnaire examined knowledge and attitudes of students relevant to AIDS. The results showed that the level of knowledge of students living in this area was high prior to intervention. The education programme succeeded in improving some aspects of knowledge and also influenced some attitudes of the students. A study of the epidemiology of Aids in Ireland reveals that the epidemic is at a relatively early stage with a consequent rapid doubling time of 9-10 months. In comparison with most developed countries Ireland has a high proportion of AIDS cases occurring among intravenous drug abusers and directly related to this a high number of HIV infected children. Examination of the literature reveals that behaviour change has occurred most noticeably among the homosexual/bisexual risk group. There is some evidence that the comprehensive programmes can achieve change in the behaviour of intravenous drug abusers. There are very few reports linking behaviour change among adolescents and young adults to education programmes. Much of the available literature relates to changes in knowledge and attitudes. International recommendations on the nature of the ideal health education intervention on AIDS are reviewed. The importance of a comprehensive health education programme which incorporates AIDS education and which commences early in youth is noted. The role of the community physician in relation to education programmes and other aspects of monitoring and management of the AIDS epidemic is discussed.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.

Psychosis with coexisting substance misuse: assessment and management in adults and young people.

This guideline offers best practice advice on the assessment and management of people with psychosis and coexisting substance misuse. Psychosis is a condition that affects a person’s mental state, including their thoughts, mood and behaviour. The symptoms of psychosis are:• hallucinations – hearing voices and sometimes seeing things that are not really there• delusions – having fixed beliefs that are false but which the person believes in completely. Substance misuse is a broad term encompassing, in this guideline, the harmful use of any psychotropic substance, including alcohol and either legal or illicit drugs. Use of such substances is harmful when it has a negative effect on a person’s life, including their physical and mental health, relationships, work, education and finances or leads to offending behaviour.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.