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Definition: Addiction Switzerland
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Health protection is at the heart of Addiction Switzerland's concerns. Addiction Switzerland designs and implements prevention projects and is involved in health policy and psychosocial research. Addiction Switzerland is a private foundation, independent in political and religious terms, which pursues a recognised public interest goal: to prevent problems related to alcohol and other drugs and to mitigate them where they exist.
Addiction Switzerland is heavily involved in health policy and works with numerous partners to raise awareness of problems related to alcohol and other drugs.
Founded in 1902 and formerly known asthe Swiss Institute for the Prevention of Alcoholism and Other Addictions (ISPA), Addiction Switzerland has its offices in Lausanne, where 45 employees work.
More than 50% of Addiction Switzerland's activities are funded by contributions from private donors. 20% of its income comes from research contracts awarded by the Swiss Confederation, the cantons or private organisations. The sale of educational materials and the billing of services (consulting fees, training, etc.) also account for 20% of revenue. Less than 10% of revenue is covered by federal and cantonal contributions. Administrative costs account for 15% of Addiction Switzerland's budget.
Addiction prevention concepts
Definition and objectives of prevention
Depending on the substance in question, the addiction problem or the target group, addiction prevention aims either to prevent people from starting to use substances or to prevent the following phenomena:
? early consumption
? excessive consumption
? the negative consequences of consumption
? chronic risky consumption
? addiction.
These objectives are relevant to problems related to psychoactive substances or certain behaviours (cyber addiction, gambling, etc.).
Prevention and timing of intervention
Until the mid-1990s, the most common classification of prevention measures was based on three medically inspired categories: primary, secondary and tertiary prevention.
Primary prevention aims to prevent the onset of symptoms, while secondary prevention focuses on early detection and seeks to prevent symptoms from worsening, or at least to improve the future prospects of those affected and their families. Tertiary prevention aims to prevent complications from existing disorders and also includes relapse prevention.
There are two commonly used approaches to addiction prevention, focusing on:
• the timing of the intervention
• the target group.
A distinction is traditionally made between structural prevention measures, which aim to change the structures and environment of target groups, and person-centred addiction prevention measures, which act directly on individuals. Evaluating prevention projects is complex but essential in order to better assess their effectiveness.
Documentation
The Addiction Switzerland documentation centre is open to the general public. Specialising in the field of alcoholism and other addictions, it brings together documents dealing with theoretical and practical sociology and psychology, prevention, treatment, government intervention, new drugs, the influence on accidents, trends and health promotion. For questions relating to pharmacology or medicine, we recommend that you contact a university hospital library or a specialised institute.
To contact Addiction Switzerland:
Addiction Suisse - Av. Louis-Ruchonnet 14, 1003 Lausanne (Switzerland)
Tel: 021 321 29 11
Fax: 021 321 29 40
info@addictionsuisse.ch
Postal account: 10-261-7
Postal address: Addiction Suisse, PO Box 870, 1001 Lausanne
Website: link below.