Universal Prevention Curriculum

International Standards on Drug Use Prevention

Prevention strategies based on scientific evidence working with families, schools, and communities can ensure that children and youth, especially the most marginalized and poor, grow and stay healthy and safe into adulthood and old age.

For every dollar spent on prevention, at least ten can be saved in future health, social and crime costs.

This is the second updated edition of the Standards and has been published jointly by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) the World Health Organisation (WHO). As in the case of the first edition, the Standards summarize the currently available scientific evidence, describing interventions and policies that have been found to result in positive prevention outcomes and their characteristics. Concurrently, the document identifies the major components and features of an effective national drug prevention system.

The Standards assist policy makers worldwide to develop programmes, policies and systems that are a truly effective investment in the future of children, youth, families and communities.

The Standards have been recognized by Member States as a useful tool to promote evidence-based prevention

Universal Prevention Curriculum

The Universal Prevention Curriculum for Substance Use aims to address the need for knowledgeable and competent professionals working in the prevention field.

It has been developed by the Drug Advisory Programme (DAP) of The Colombo Plan.

UPC was designed to meet the current demand for a comprehensive training package in the field of drug use prevention, based on evidence-based principles.

The UTC has been developed for both managers and supervisors of government programmes and community-based organisations as well as prevention implementers working in evidence-based prevention at the grassroots level.

Example Materials

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UPC Managers and Supervisors Series

Course 1: Introduction to Prevention Science (36 hours)

This course provides an overview of the science that underlies evidence-based prevention interventions and strategies, and the application of these effective approaches in prevention practice.

Course 2: Physiology and Pharmacology for Prevention Specialist (25 hours)

This course presents an overview of the physiology and pharmacology of psychoactive substances and their effects on the brain to affect mood, cognition and behaviour, and the consequences of such use on the individual, the family and the community.

Course 3: Monitoring and Evaluation of Prevention Interventions and Policies (35 hours)

This course gives an overview of primary evaluation methods used to measure evidence-based prevention interventions and guidance in applying them to “real-world” prevention settings.

Course 4: Family-based Prevention Interventions (33 hours)

This course explores the family as the primary socialisation agent of children, the science behind family-based prevention interventions, and the application of such evidence-based approaches to help prevent the onset of substance use in children.

Course 5: School-based Prevention Interventions (43 hours)

This course presents an overview of the school in society, the science behind school-based prevention interventions, and the application of such evidence-based approaches in school settings around the world.

Course 6: Workplace-based Prevention Interventions (31 hours)

This course provides an overview of the role of work and the workplace in society, how stresses and other work-related influences affect people’s risk of substance use, the science behind workplace prevention interventions, and the application of such evidence-based approaches in work settings around the world.

Course 7: Environment-based Prevention Interventions (23 hours)

This course reviews the science underlying evidence-based substance use prevention environmental interventions, involving policy and community-wide strategies.

Course 8: Media-based Prevention Interventions (22 hours)

This course presents the science underlying the use of media for substance use prevention interventions.

Course 9: Community-based Prevention Implementation Systems (38 hours)

This course introduces the science underlying the systems approach to prevention interventions and guidance on developing such approaches, as well as exemplars of evidence-based drug use prevention systems.

UPC Implementers Series

The UPC-I is designed to provide knowledge, skills, and competencies to prevention implementers so that they have a better understanding about the key elements of evidence-based prevention and the most effective, evidence-based prevention interventions that are currently available.

The series is not intended to prepare prevention implementers to deliver these interventions, rather to provide the necessary knowledge and understanding about how these interventions were developed and why their delivery as designed is very important to the intervention’s level of effectiveness.

This training series provides implementers with an in-depth knowledge and skills related to content, structure, effective delivery, and monitoring and evaluation of the short- and long-term impact of prevention interventions and policies. It consists of the CORE course and seven training tracks:

1. Monitoring and Evaluation,
2. School,
3. Family,
4. Workplace,
5. Environment,
6. Media, and
7. Prevention Delivery Systems.

In addition to providing basic knowledge and skills in the various settings, the track training also includes extensive in-class exercises and a practicum upon completion of two courses for each track. The three practica provides an opportunity to apply theory learned into practice in the field.

CORE Course: Introduction to the Universal Prevention Curriculum Series for Implementers
(58 hours)

The CORE Course is composed of 10 modules representing different aspects of prevention science and its application to practice. It is designed to give participants a foundation in the knowledge and skills needed to undertake evidence-based prevention programming at the community level.

The course provides an overview of the basic processes that underlie addiction and the brain, basic pharmacology of psychoactive substances, and preventive mechanisms that have been found to be effective in more than 30 years of prevention science. It also provides skills-building in areas such as reviewing data needed to assess the substance use problem; working with a prevention implementation planning approach; and developing logic models to assist in that planning. It is required as a pre-requisite for participation in the specialty tracks. Each of the specialty tracks is self-contained but it is necessary to take the CORE first as an introduction to the training series.

Track 1: Monitoring and Evaluation of Prevention Interventions and Policies (60 hours)

This track presents primary evaluation methods with a focus on monitoring and process evaluation used to measure outcomes of evidence-based substance use prevention interventions and policies. It also provides experiential learning in planning and monitoring outcomes through exercises and a practicum completed at the end of the track. There are eight courses in this track.

Track 2: Family-based Prevention Interventions (54 hours)

This track gives an overview of the science inherent in family-based prevention interventions and the methods used to intervene effectively in order to prevent substance use in children and adolescents. It also provides experiential learning in some of the skills used in effective family-based intervention methods to prepare prevention implementers to participate in such programmes. This track comprises seven courses.

Track 3: School-Based Prevention Interventions and Policies (72 hours)

This track introduces the science behind school-based prevention interventions and policies, and the methods used to improve school climate, strengthen policies, and intervene directly with classroom prevention interventions. It provides one track for administrators on effective planning and strategies for addressing school policy and climate; and a second track for teachers primarily on classroom interventions. There are eight courses in this track.

Track 4: Workplace-Based Prevention Interventions and Policies (76 hours)

This track presents the science underlying workplace-based prevention interventions and policies, and the methods and strategies workplaces can use to improve their environment and culture. It also provides experiential learning in planning for workplace policy changes and other substance use prevention efforts thus empowering employees to avoid substance use. This track consists of seven courses.

Track 5: Environment-Based Prevention Interventions and Policies (59 hours)

This track reviews the science behind effective environment-based prevention interventions and policies – which focus on community-wide strategies to prevent tobacco and alcohol use; and illegal drug trafficking and use in various settings and methods used to identify and successfully implement these interventions. It also provides experiential learning in planning for and implementing environmental policy changes and other community-wide substance use prevention efforts. There are seven courses in this track.

Track 6: Media-Based Prevention Interventions (81 hours)

This track discusses the science inherent in effective media-based substance use prevention interventions with a focus on developing successful persuasive communications. It also provides experiential learning in planning messages and media for reaching parents and youth in substance use prevention efforts. This track comprises six courses.

Track 7: Community-Based Prevention Implementation Systems (87 hours)

This track explores the science underlying the systems approaches to prevention interventions and presents the primary methods for planning community-wide implementation systems. It also provides experiential learning in planning and working with stakeholders to develop prevention intervention services. There are seven courses in this track.