PROJECTS
AREA OF Minors, families and the territory

Oltre il muro (Beyond the Wall)
Attività di prevenzione rivolta ai giovani adolescenti per ridurre la domanda e i rischi connessi all’uso di sostanze psicotrope e alcool

The mobile unit 'Oltre il muro', funded by Lazio region, is addressed to teenagers/young people between 14 and 34 years old, in the ASL RM 2, with the aim of preventing and decreasing the demand and the risks connected to the use of psychotropic substances and alcohol. The operators make contact with the young people directly at their meeting places, in the daily context of their life and relations. The overall objective is to promote, in the different layers of the population concerned, the protection of health and the emergence of needs related to the use/abuse of substances. The objective is achieved through supporting and enhancing the social skills of the recipients involved, facilitating - when deemed appropriate - the access to the system of services and opportunities of the region, and helping them to know their rights/duties. The project provides the target populations with preventive and risk reduction information on specific topics, emphasizing the relationship operator/person, and encouraging individuals to use the available services, informing them about the possibilities and the existing land resources.

NAME OF THE PROJECT

"Oltre il muro", Mobile Unit for Prevention and Reduction of Risks relating to the use of psychotropic drugs and alcohol in social/youth centres.

RECIPIENTS

Teenagers/young people between 14 and 34 years old.

In addition, the Mobile Unit addresses parental figures, agencies of socialization and training and, more generally, adults who have an influence on the construction of lifestyles and behaviour in the main target population.

METHOD OF FINANCING

Funding entity: Lazio region

Legal Reference: National Fund on the Fight against drugs (DPR 309/90)

AREAS OF INTERVENTION

ASL RM 2 Rome

BRIEF HISTORY

The project, although with different forms of financing, has been active since 1998. The activities on the street, i.e. in direct contact with the target recipients in their gathering places, and the proximity in their routine contexts of life and relationship have always represented the main focus of Parsec's methodology. The cooperative's first experiences of street activities back in the first half of the 90s addressed to young people have helped to later develop and promote more complex projects, such as the Mobile Unit "Beyond the Wall". The latter, thanks to its continued activities, has in recent years become the main point of reference in terms of practices and methodologies applied in the contact and relationship with the youth world and the prevention of the use of substances.

OBJECTIVES

To encourage, in the different layers of the population concerned, the protection of health and the emergence of needs related to the use / abuse of substances, supporting and enhancing the social skills of the recipients involved, facilitating - when considered appropriate - the access to system services and opportunities offered by the region, and helping them to know their rights/duties. The project provides the target population with preventive and risk reduction information on specific topics, emphasizing the relationship operator/receiver and the use of appropriate tools (prophylaxis and information material ...). It encourages people to avail of the existing services, informing them about the possibilities and the available land resources; it tends to change behaviours causing risk of infection (HIV, hepatitis, STD, TB ...) and damage/mortality related to alcohol and the use of psychotropic substances. Lastly it also facilitates access to the network of local services.

METHODOLOGY OF INTERVENTION

The key word of the street work is relationship, designed and built as a relationship between the operators and the young people. The relationship then becomes a field of exchange, recognition, a vehicle of information and scope of discovery, in which the operator represents the world of adults that brings a message of prevention, self-care and scientific knowledge. It is then fundamental for the operator to understand the codes, symbols and language of young people that he/she gets in contact with and to open a space for reflection on these factors in order to recognize them, restore their dignity, identity and subjectivity, through encounter and exchange.

In this preventive activity carried out in the streets the promotion of peer education programmes that encourage independence, resources and skills, able to promote active and conscious citizenship is also important.

TOOLS AND ACTIVITIES

• Afternoon street units in order to contact groups of informal aggregation;
• Preparation of information booths and alcohol tests administered within local and community centres at night;
• Counselling and psychological support in order to clarify doubts and curiosity about experiences, direct or indirect, with psychotropic substances and alcohol;
• Organization and implementation of in-depth information groups on drugs and alcohol and on issues related to sexuality and the prevention of STDs;
• Participation in student assemblies and workshops on the theme of psychotropic substances, upon the request of the young people;
• Organization of meetings on peer education;
• Counselling and information via telephone and e-mail;
• A website and a forum.

NETWORK AND TERRITORY

The Mobile Unit can only be placed within a network of cooperation that is opens to both formal and public services in the vast and complex informal network, especially in the scope of youth in the territory. It has daily contacts and relationships of exchange and collaboration with: youth centres, low-threshold centres, associations, cooperatives, local parishes, counselling centres, health centres, night clubs, youth associations, and musical groups.

CONTACTS AND PROCEDURES FOR ACCESS

The Mobile Unit's key feature is the contact established with young people in their contexts of aggregation. It is thus possible not only to meet the operators directly on the streets or in nightclubs, but also to request information and advice and indication of the gathering places and events by phone or e-mail, or using the forum of the website.

Mobile (00 39) 339.8727697 - (00 39) 339.8730887

Internet website: www.oltreilmuro.it

E-mail :info@oltreilmuro.it

Facebook: Oltre il Muro

The street unit is active on the territory in afternoons or evenings. Times are flexible according to the needs of the target population or to the requests received from local agencies.

ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

The team operates according to a shared and integrated working method and it avails of the expertise of professional psychotherapists, psychologists, sociologists, educators.

It consists of a manager, four operators, a supervisor and consultants for training and assessment.

EVALUATION

The evaluation is conducted by the client through a system of quantitative (numerical evaluation forms) and qualitative (report with achieved objectives) monitoring. Internal periodic checks are also carried out to monitor expected- reached objectives among the team, the service manager and the area focal point.