Our CPLI program assesses drug use in the Community and implements early prevention for drug dependents in the community. This center Providing referral and linkage to Counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation services for drug dependents identified in the community.

In Peer-led intervention, the “peer educator” plays a paramount role and the term is used to describe a staff member of the intervention team who is in the age group of 10 to 18. He/ she shall be a non-substance user or an individual who had tried substances on an experimental basis in the past.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

• To assess drug use in the community
• To implement early prevention education led by trained peer educators.
• To provide referral and linkage to counseling, treatment, and rehabilitation services for drug dependents identified in the community.
• Total abstinence from alcohol and other drugs for life. Making positive changes towards enhancing the quality of life
• To create awareness and educate people about the ill effects of drugs and alcoholism on the individual, family, workplace, and community as a whole.
• To prevent vulnerable adolescents and youth from the usage of drugs, tobacco, alcohol consumption, etc., and to create health consciousness.

Children and adolescents living in the street, slums and homeless, become particularly vulnerable to substance use in such high-risk circumstances. Also, the rate of help-seeking behavior is low due to many factors like lack of family and community support compared to others. It is always better to intervene before they initiate the substance use behavior.

By ensuring active participation of young people, they may be empowered to prevent and disseminate information on substance use prevention. Also for this, there should be a strategy where young people learn from each other and support themselves.

For this purpose, under the scheme of Targeted Intervention, MSJE, Govt. of India has introduced Community-Based Peer-Led intervention which would be appropriate for preventing and reducing substance use among young people. Through peer-led intervention, the aim is to reach children and early adolescents who are:- Vulnerable children/ adolescents in the age group 10 – 18 who are non-users.

Advantages of Peer-Led Intervention

Some of the distinct advantages of PLI are:

• Targeting the vulnerable children/adolescents will help to delay/ prevent/ reduce substance use in the community
• Fast to multiply, thus more beneficiaries could be reached out with relatively fewer resources. Hence cost-effective
• Easily acceptable to the target group since their “peers” are giving them the messages.
• Peers are in a better position to monitor the situation and trends.
• This approach increases the feasibility and sustainability of the project
• Involvement of the community will encourage their “ownership” of the project and potential response to the project activities among the network of substance users.