SENDA met with representatives of study houses in the region to address the issue of substance use.
In order to strengthen joint work, the National Service for the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Alcohol and Drug Consumption (SENDA), presented the Protocol for the prevention of substance consumption and early detection of risk situations and/or behaviors in institutions. of higher education.
This protocol is a tool that SENDA makes available to universities, technical training centers and professional institutes and that provides a general framework and guide so that they can implement prevention actions among their students.
Representatives of higher education institutions in the region participated in the event and it was led by the regional director of SENDA, Rodrigo Maturana.
“It is crucial to focus on prevention and early detection, seeking to establish a framework to understand the path of students through higher education institutions, identifying risk factors and strengthening protection factors,” he noted.
The purpose of the protocol is to make a tool available to higher education communities so that they can autonomously develop actions to prevent the consumption of alcohol and other drugs, with the guidance and technical support of SENDA.
Good practices
During the meeting, the Head of the Health Center of the Student Department of the Universidad Católica del Norte, Coquimbo Campus, Mónica Castillo Rosales, presented the good practices that the UCN has implemented to promote an environment of prevention, pointing out that “it has been several years “We work together with SENDA through different projects such as Training of monitors, Bibliodrogas, Diffusion of Telephone Line 1412, among others.” For the UCN, through its educational project and the institutional health promotion and quality of life policy VIVE UCN, “health promotion in all its dimensions is very relevant, in order to promote the quality of student life and the educational trajectories,” he explained.
One of the initiatives that SENDA highlighted is the new general training course Preventive Agents, in B-Learning modality, with face-to-face meetings and modules. This subject contributes to the comprehensive training of the students, where 28 students from the Headquarters who are currently taking the elective will participate.
In addition, Mónica Castillo highlights, this year the clinical psychology service of the Student Health Center offers a new preventive and early detection service to the student community: Guidance on alcohol and drug issues, provided by a psychologist from the Center for Health, with the aim of raising awareness about the risks associated with alcohol and drug consumption, as well as providing strategies to prevent and/or manage related situations.
