International nursing leadership related to the drugs phenomenon: a case study of the partnership experience between the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission (CICAD) and the University of Alberta - Faculty of Nursing

The ES/CICAD/OAS schools of nursing project: a model of excellence for professional and scientific development on drug related issues in Latin America

This paper presents the Executive Secretariat of Interamerican Drug Abuse Control Commission (ES/CICAD)'s successful experience introducing drug related content into nursing curricula, fostering the implementation of outreach activities at the community level, and promoting research studies on drug issues in Latin America. The "Critical-holistic international health model applied to the drug phenomenon" is used as the project's theoretical framework. The three basic components of the project are education, outreach activities, and drug research studies, which provide the scientific basis for the development and advancement of future nursing professionals to work and study drug issues in Latin America. Through this project, more than 50,000 nursing students have been or are being educated on drug-related issues; the participating schools have implemented 400 outreach activities, developed more than 500 research studies on drug-related issues, and published more than 270 articles in national and international peer-reviewed journals. The ES/CICAD Schools of Nursing Project has served as a model to address the drug phenomenon from an international health perspective for other academic areas such as medicine, public health, education, psychology, social work, social communication, and law in Latin America.

Lunchtime as a therapeutic moment: a health education approach with alcohol-dependent women

Alcoholism is a relevant problem in public health. The use of alcohol among women has increased as well as the search for treatment. This research proposes the resignification of food to these women, as a harm reduction strategy. The research aimed to study and to discuss the experience of lunchtime as a therapeutic moment, presenting theoretic assumptions, strategies and immediate results. The clinical-qualitative methodology and the content analysis were used. The results, divided in seven categories, refer to the educational intervention process: environment as facilitator; sharing food--becoming a partner; broadening the perception of food; food and its meanings; sexuality; relapses; depression x motivation. The heath education performed during lunch is a possibility of therapeutic intervention, provided that the health professionals perceive the multidimensionality of food, considering the nutritional aspects as much as the symbolic ones, which are relevant for the creation of bonding and motivation for the treatment.