HN Health Unit to use Icelandic model to target youth substance use

The Haldimand-Norfolk Health Unit is implementing a program to target youth substance use that has been successful in Iceland.

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The health unit will receive $119,000 in funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada over 18 months to establish what is known as the Icelandic Prevention Model. Staff will work with experts from that country to tailor a program based on local substance use issues.

But some councilors raised concerns at a board of health meeting on Wednesday about the use of provincial statistics to try and determine the level of substance use among youth in Norfolk and Haldimand.

A report prepared by Lina Hassen and Josh Daley, health promoters at the health unit, included data from the 2023 Ontario Student Drug Use Health Survey, which indicates:

• The most commonly used drugs among students in Grades 7-12 are alcohol (35.6 per cent), prescription opioid pain relievers (21.8 per cent), cannabis (17.6 per cent) and vapes/electronic cigarettes (13.4 per cent).

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• One in 10 (10 per cent) of students in Grades 7-12 report binge drinking (five or more drinks on one occasion) at least once in the past month.

• Among students who report drinking in the past year, the most common source of alcohol is a family member.

• Cannabis and alcohol use increase with grade level.

• About one in eight (13 per cent) students in Grades 7-12 report vaping in the past year.

• Students are initiating substance use at older ages than in the past, however many who use substances reported starting before Grade 9: alcohol (47 per cent), vaping (43 per cent), tobacco (29 per cent), cannabis (18 per cent ).

When questioned by Coun. Doug Brunton about whether local stats were available, Hassen said the health unit’s small population makes it too expensive to collect data beyond what’s available provincially. She said only a couple local schools would have been included in the Ontario data.

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“We’re only getting one or two schools surveyed, so it’s not overly representative of what our region looks like,” said Brunton. “I’m sure Toronto and other bigger cities have got a lot worse problem than we have.”

Jackie Wood, program manager with the health unit, said the Planet Youth program will provide a “unique opportunity to get local, real-level data from our high schools (typically though anonymous surveys completed by students).”

“We’ll have real, local data six to eight weeks after we collect so we can make some decisions,” said Wood.

The Icelandic Model was created to combat a growing drug use problem in Iceland in the 1990s. The program uses a community-based approach to “increase the likelihood that young people will use their time in a positive, constructive way.” That includes strengthening the support of parents and schools and increasing opportunities for young people to participate in organized leisure activities to reduce the risks of substance use.

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Coun. Mike Columbus asked staff what has been done in the past to curb substance use among high school students.

Daley said the emphasis has been on campaigns and participating in events, calling them “short-term, one-off approaches.”

“It has been shown that they’ve not had the impact we’d hope to see. If a young person comes to a booth in their cafeteria, it’s a point in time. This (Icelandic Prevention Model) looks at their whole experience as a young person – what they are doing in their evenings, what they are doing as a family unit and with their social crowd.”

Daley said current programs, including collaboration between school nurses and principals, will continue. Work is being done to curb vaping, “a concern noted in a lot of our elementary schools.”

A community coalition will be established later this fall to oversee the rollout of the new program, which is being used in 16 countries worldwide.

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