The main objective of this project has been the creation of several instruments to gather relevant information and data through ethno-epidemiological methods to identify and describe the settings and patterns of use of alcohol and other drugs and the associated health risks behaviours with the purpose of exploring if participation in recreational nightlife constitutes a risk factor on drug use and associated health risks (violence, risky sexuality, driving under the influence). Also, to identify best preventive practices and find out how feasibility of these practices in different recreational contexts.

These instruments for eliciting relevant information on cities, recreational areas, recreational venues and young users of recreational nightlife constitute the KAReN - Kit for Assessment of Recreational Nightlife (see Data and Tools) used in this integrated research project to evaluate the nightlife recreational context in nine European cities where about 1.400 nightlife users were surveyed. Ethnographic reports from the researched areas in Athens, Berlin, Brno, Lisbon, Liverpool, Ljubljana, Palma, Venice-Mestre and Vienna can be consulted as well as two reports on data (ethnographic and statistical data).

The project’s main achievement is having made solid progress in obtaining relevant information on recreational contexts, showing how drugs are used and articulated in those cultural, social and environmental settings and what are the risk behaviours associated to them.Such knowledge is comprehensive and comes from multiple perspectives paying special attention in explaining what happens, how it happens and why it happens which are key to address the direction preventive strategies should be taking.

“Recreational Prev.” was managed by IREFREA –Spain with the collaboration of the following institutions: IREFREA-Portugal, IREFREA-Italy, Centre of Public Health – LJMU (UK), ISG - Institut Für Social Und Gessundheltspsychologie (Austria), UTRIP Institute (Slovenia), SPI Forschung GGMBH (Germany), Sdruzeni Podane Ruce (Czech Republic) and the Mental Health Research Institute of the University of Athens (Greece).

 

Co-financed by the European Commission, Health & Consumer Protection Directorate-General Recreational culture as a tool to prevent Risk Behaviours – “Recreational Prev.”, grant agreement nº 2004319 (2005-2008)