Speakers

Biography

Helena Horálek, Psychologist, Since 2007, she has been working on preventing risk behavior in cooperation with the Department of Addictology, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University (CUNI). Since 2019, I have been a permanent employee as an assistant professor at CUNI.

She focuses on quality and efficiency in preventing risky behavior and training professionals. She refers to effective strategies in place of risk behavior prevention at international professional meetings, including implementing quality control of primary prevention standards in practice.

In the Czech Republic, she co-founded the Professional Society for the Prevention of Risky Behaviour, actively advocates for quality control of standards in practice (certification system), and is dedicated to teaching and training future practitioners in prevention. She's an international trainer of Unplugged, EU-Dap, and a National trainer of the EUPC.

In 2019, EUSPR (European Society for Prevention Research) awarded her the “Leading European Prevention Science Practitioner Honour”.

Abstract

At the global level, The Universal Prevention Curriculum (UPC) was developed by Prof. Zili Sloboda with a team of highly qualified prevention scientists and experts, Applied Prevention Science International (APSI). The UPC links basic prevention information with a focus on evidence-based programmes. It was created through a long process of professionalizing and developing evidence-based prevention education materials. This curriculum is also supported by The International Consortium of Universities for Drug Demand Reduction (ICUDDR). Another international institution that supports the dissemination of the UPC and its sub-outcomes is The International Society of Substance Use Prevention and Treatment Professionals (ISSUP).

The Department of Adicthology, 1st Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and General University Hospital, under the leadership of Prof. Miovsky, developed and implemented comprehensive bachelor's, master's, and doctorate-level curricula of Addiction Studies (Addictology) between 2003 and 2012. This Prague model combines three evidence-based approaches to addressing substance use - prevention, treatment, and public health - into a balanced professionalized discipline. In 2016, Prof. Miovsky decided to integrate the Universal Prevention Curriculum (UPC) into these programmes of study.

Next, based on the European adaptation of the UPC, Prof. Gabrhelík developed an online course, INEP - Introduction to Evidence-Based Prevention (INEP). Its scope, content and form build on the already developed Four-Level Educational Module in the field of prevention. The INEP course is already available in several languages and has its superstructures. Prevention education is a priority worldwide, including in the Czech Republic.

The emphasis is on the education itself, the content of the curricula (evidence-based prevention, research studies, validation of effectiveness) and their quality and effective delivery. In this paper, we would like to give you an overview of the context of Czech and global developments.