Parent Action on Drugs - Annual General Meeting
Took place on Monday, November 9th, 2009
Pat Sanagan did a presentation on "Health promotion in the first person: Reflections on a career in mental health and addictions"
Pat Sanagan has been a nurse, a counsellor, an educator, a trainer, a researcher and a consultant since she began her career in prevention and health promotion in 1971.
In those 38 years, many approaches and strategies for working with individuals, families and communities have changed dramatically while others have proven to be the gold standard in effective response.
The Presentation was followed by a brief business meeting.
Click here for the financial statements ending March 31, 2009
Parent Action on Drugs launches a new resource for women who care about teenage girls!
Parent Action on Drugs (PAD)and The Pink Tulip Foundation have partnered on a new brochure to help adult women to talk to teenagers about making healthy choices to prevent breast cancer.
The brochure, available in print and online, includes tips on how to talk to girls about reducing the risk of breast cancer, and advice from a young breast cancer survivor.
This brochure is part of a larger PAD campaign called ‘Hook Up To Breast Cancer Prevention’, funded by the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
Click here to read and/or print the brochure.
Taking Charge program:
Young Women, Alcohol and Sexual Assault
In a recent survey, professionals who work with young women said alcohol was involved in 80% of disclosed sexual assault.
Parent Action on Drugs talked to over 200 young women about sexual assault and alcohol. Whether they had been sexually assaulted or not, most girls said they would not come forward because…
- They would feel ashamed and humiliated.
- They would feel that they let it happen.
- If they had said yes at any time, then the guy would not be responsible.
- Friends would cut them out.
- There could be reprisals from the boy.
- They would never be forgiven by their parents.
Based on the information from young women and professionals, this tool kit was developed for health professionals to support and inform young women. Available in English and French, the Tool Kit fits into a variety of settings and curriculum programs and contains four parts:
1. A Guide to the Taking Charge project in 4 sections:
- The Taking Charge Project: Rationale, Process, Key Findings and Frequently Asked Questions
- Responding to Disclosure
- Educational Activities
- Supporting Parental Involvement (parent information brochure included)
2. A CD of handouts and resources.
3. A poster to encourage young women to think about the subject and talk about it with peers and adults they trust.
4. Keychains with the logo to hang on backpacks, keys, or cell phones.
Why does it work?
- It works because it was directed and developed by an Advisory of young women and a partnership of health and education professionals.
- It works because it increases professionals’ opportunity and ability to talk to young women and their parents about this difficult subject.
- And it works because it provides young women with the support they need to take charge of the situation.
This project is funded by the Ministry of the Attorney General, Ontario Victim Services Secretariat.
For an order form for the Taking Charge Guide and resources, click here, or click here to contact PAD for more information.
Reaching Out to Younger Women to Prevent Breast Cancer
Parent Action on Drugs (PAD) received funding from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation - Ontario Chapter for a project entitled: Check it Out: An Assessment of Young Women’s Interest In and Knowledge of the Impact of Alcohol, Nutrition and Physical Activity on Breast Health. Through our work with youth, we became aware of an important fact: many young women do not know that alcohol use is associated with increased breast cancer risk.
During this project we worked in collaboration with youth and health promotion partners, to conduct focus groups and surveys in both English and French with young women aged 16 to 20. We wanted to understand their issues and needs regarding lifestyle factors which affect breast health and how to mesh these needs into language, messaging and behavioural goals that would be acceptable to them in order to reduce their risks for breast cancer and promote breast health.
We heard from 355 young women who indicated that:
- They are drinking often, they are not as physically fit as they think they should be and they are not eating as well as they think they should.
- They believe that they will improve their eating and physical activity patterns in the next five years, but the majority do not think they will change their drinking patterns.
In their own words:
“I do not frequently go out on drinking binges – when I do decide to party I make the most of it”
“Everything is unhealthy and drinking every once in a while is fun”
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- They have little to no knowledge about the links between risk factors and breast cancer, although more knew about these links for healthy eating than either of the other factors.
- They are interested in having this information because the majority said they try to be as healthy as they can.
In their own words:
“ It’s important to take this seriously”
“Start the education early, so that we can have a chance to make the right lifestyle choices from an early age”
“ Let the young women ask questions [about] what they want to know”
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Our partnership will continue to look towards ways to support young women in their quest for healthy lifestyle choices and their right to make informed choices.
We would like to thank all the young women who took the time to so thoughtfully complete the survey and all those who directed them to the survey site. We would also like to thank our project partners: the Niagara Regional Public Health, the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the Physical Activity Resource Centre of Ontario Physical and Health Education Association, The Nutrition Resource Centre of the Ontario Public Health Association, FOCUS Resource Centre, the Ontario Drug Awareness Partnership and the Canadian Breast Cancer Network.
Peer News and Views: Perspectives on Peer Education
This issue of Peer News and Views highlights our most longstanding peer education program, Challenges, Beliefs and Changes (CBC). CBC is a program that trains high school students to promote choices and decision making about alcohol and other drugs with students in grades eight and nine. 2008 will mark the 20th anniversary of support for this program by the Masonic Foundation of Ontario. During this time, we have trained thousands of high school students in our two day workshops, and each time our instructors are thrilled to discover young people who are eager to learn, committed to teaching others and discovering a passion for helping that will stay with them in their professional careers and personal lives. This issue of Peer News and Views features an article by Dawn T Maracle who participated in the CBC program right at the start and has kept in touch over the years. There is an interview by PAD's Executive Director with three grade 11 student peer leaders as well as an article on Garth McCurdy, who is one of PAD's Peer Education Trainers. It also includes information on two of PAD's other peer programs; What's With Weed and Acting Responsibly.
To download a pdf file of Peer News and Views click here
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