Taking Care of Health Today: Integrated health workshop on addictions, focused on adolescence and its management in the classroom

Abstract

Addressing addictions during adolescence represents a significant challenge for health promotion due to the interaction of individual, social, and cultural factors that influence patterns of substance use. Identifying adolescents’ perceptions and knowledge constitutes a fundamental starting point for designing contextualized preventive strategies. Within this framework, the objective of this study was to assess adolescents’ prior knowledge about addictions and to implement a comprehensive health education workshop based on the analysis of problem-based cases in order to promote the recognition of problematic substance use and management strategies. The workshop was conducted by students from the Biological Sciences Teacher Education Program within the Health Promotion course at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, National University of La Pampa (UNLPam).
Methodologically, a qualitative approach was adopted through a workshop jointly developed with university teacher-training students and the administration of anonymous structured surveys organized around six thematic areas. The surveys were designed by sixth-year students from Instituto Visión Tecnológica. The sample consisted of 41 secondary school students, aged 16 to 17 years, from Santa Rosa, La Pampa, Argentina. 
The results revealed that alcohol consumption and cigarette or vaping use were perceived as “very common” by 71% and 83% of respondents, respectively, whereas marijuana use was considered “uncommon” by 54% of participants. Regarding motivations for substance use, social pressure (63%) and the pursuit of entertainment (54%) were the most frequently reported factors. Furthermore, school was identified as the main source of information about substance-use risks (46%). Additionally, 71% of respondents reported knowing young people in their social environment who consume substances, while 46% acknowledged the influence of advertising on consumption behaviors. An identical percentage also recognized the prevalence and negative impact of online gambling in everyday life. It is concluded that the workshop and the qualitative assessment facilitated the early identification of risk factors and strengthened school-based preventive policies within the local community.