Northern Ontario health unit adopts Icelandic model to tackle youth substance use

The Porcupine Health Unit (PHU) is set to launch a five-year pilot project in an effort to address substance use among young people in the region. 

The health unit will collaborate with Planet Youth to bring the proven Icelandic Prevention Model – an evidence and community-based process, credited with lowering substance use in Iceland over the past 20 years – to the northern community. 

Timmins will be the first community in Northern Ontario to implement this program. 

"This process is true primary prevention, which means we're working to stop problems before they even start," Kaiden Hardy, Health promoter with Porcupine Health Unit said. 

Adapted in more than 16 countries, the idea of this model is to focus prevention efforts on building strong and healthy communities, instead of targeting individual behaviours. 

"We are addressing the root causes rather than symptoms," Hardy added. 

Not a 'one-size-fits-all' approach

"Substance Use prevention is a long-term investment and even though some prevention efforts can have positive effects in the short term, the most impactful results are going to occur over time," Hardy said.

She noted the program is not a 'one-size-fits-all' approach, but rather tailored to cater to the community's individual needs with the help of data collected through surveys.  

"We're going to be working really closely with the folks at Planning Youth to tailor the Icelandic prevention model to our communities needs."  

After data is collected, the health unit receives reports from Planet Youth which reveal the dominant risks and factors that make youth more or less likely to use substances. 

"Then as a community, we can decide how to act." 

Hardy said the ability to regularly collect this data will allow the region to evaluate and identify gaps and correct course. 

In addition, this collaboration will allow the health unit to learn from other Planet Youth partners who may have similar demographics.

Lack of data in the north

Starting the 2023/2034 school year, data will be collected bi-annually through a survey among grade 10 students.

The survey will observe information surrounding four areas of a youth's community. 

These include family involvement, peer relationships, extracurricular activities and school community engagement. 

Based on the information collected through the survey, an action plan tailored specifically to the region's needs is generated. 

Hardy said this action plan action is going to be evidence based, culturally appropriate and then tailored to the community's needs. 

The impact of this pilot program will be measured through a ten step planning process. 

The first three steps are aimed at understanding the community's capacity to implement the program.

Then, steps four to nine focus on completing that data tool, sharing those findings and using that data to decide on and implement those interventions. 

Finally, the tenth step is an opportunity to reflect on the process and improve for the next year.

Hardy said, historically, there's a lack of data in the region. 

"In the North, we're often grouped with the rest of Ontario," but Hardy points out that the data shows the substance use rates in the Porcupine Health Unit are higher than the provincial average. 

Hardy believes this approach has shown remarkable success in reducing substance use and promoting overall well-being. 

"And with giving it a try as the first health unit in Northern Ontario to do this, [we] could give advice to other health units if they wanted to implement this."