Preventing drug-related harm through community mobilisation

The community mobilisation strategy emerges from the idea that young people’s behaviours are the outcome of influences from many levels, including the family, peer groups, school and the community. In order to improve outcomes for children and young people, advocates of community mobilisation argue the need to improve a range of conditions that have relevance for the social development of children and families within local communities. According to the definition provided in the second report in the Prevention Research Evaluation series, community mobilisation refers to “a defined community engaging in coordinated planning and social action to advance youth development and prevent harmful drug use”. Community mobilisation encompasses a broad range of practice. At one level, it is concerned with encouraging the involvement of local people in prevention initiatives. At another level it is focused on the co-ordination of a range of complementary prevention strategies within specific social settings, such as school drug education, parent education and enforcement of laws regarding the sale of alcohol and tobacco to minors. This fifth report in the Prevention Research Evaluation series reviews evidence for the effectiveness of community mobilisation as a strategy for preventing harmful drug use by young people. A survey of practitioners’ views on the implementation of community mobilisation is used to establish the relevance of findings from the research literature to local community practices.