The 15th annual conference of the European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR) was held in Cremona, Italy from 10 to 13 September 2024. The theme of the conference was ‘prevention in and with communities’.

EUSPR

The EUSPR promotes the development of prevention science and its application to practice in order to promote human health and well-being through high-quality research, evidence-based interventions, policies, and practices.1

The 2024 conference

At the 2024 conference researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders from across the globe exchanged knowledge of good practice, debated evolving issues in the field, and explored new partnerships and ways of working. Ireland was represented by members of Drug and Alcohol Task Forces, the Health Research Board (HRB), and the Health Service Executive (HSE).

More than 200 presentations were made, exploring prevention as it relates to issues such as drugs (including alcohol) use, mental health, gender-based violence, youth violence, the impacts of war, bullying, child abuse and exploitation, climate change, suicide, gambling, smoking, excessive digital exposure, communicable diseases, and obesity. Presentations covered interventions delivered across a variety of settings, such as schools, universities, communities, families, nightlife, public media, and the workplace, among others. The interventions ranged from well-established programmes (such as Communities that Care) to new innovations, many of which involved the growing use of technology. The experiences of international practitioners highlighted the need to take account of the local context, make cultural adaptations to interventions, and address the challenges faced in implementing interventions.

Improving the quality and raising the standards of prevention work internationally was central to the conference. A recurring theme was the need to support and develop the prevention workforce through activities such as the European Prevention Curriculum.

Given the theme of the conference, ‘prevention in and with communities’, many presentations focused on how best to involve communities in a meaningful way in prevention interventions. For example, the opening keynote presentation by Professor John Toumbourou of Deakin University drew on his experiences of the Communities that Care (CTC) work in Australia and internationally. He described how community coalitions such as those developed under the CTC model can contribute to healthier local environments, including the prevention of drugs use.

1         For further information on the EUSPR, visit: https://euspr.org/

2         For further information on the conference, including the programme that outlines all the presentations, visit: https://euspr.org/category/news/annual-conference/2024-conference/