Returning member in euro net: GENCAT

After some years, euro net has got a member in Spain again.
The Department of Health of the Government of Catalonia (GENCAT) is the main governmental institution of health in the Catalan region. Joan Colom and Maria Estrada will represent GENCAT inside the network. For structural reasons they had to leave euro net in 2008. In December 2016 Maria Estrada was able to participate at the European Workshop for Addiction Prevention in Asbeck, after that GENCAT declared the assession to euro net. Welcome to euro net!!

GENCAT is reponsible for Catalonia. The Program on Substance Use Problems is part of the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (ASPCAT) and was established in 1989, with the aim of promoting health and preventing ill health in relation to substance use problems and addiction. Since 2005, the Program has been co-director of the Master Plan on Mental Health and Addictions and has been responsible for regional level alcohol and drug use prevention, harm reduction and mental health promotion in Catalonia. The goals of the Program on Substance Abuse are to support the development of policies at regional level, including the Catalan Health Plan, the Master Plan on Mental Health and Addictions, and the National Strategy on Drug Prevention. The Program also aims to provide accurate and relevant information to the Catalan Government, municipalities and the public in general; to promote, design, manage, implement and evaluate prevention and promotion programs in addictions and mental health; to undertake relevant research on prevention; and to guarantee the coordinated implementation and monitoring of national policies concerning addiction and mental health in Spain.

New member in euro nets presidium

At the end of October 2017, euro net had to say good bye to Doris Sarrazin.
Doris Sarrazin followed Wolfgang Rometsch as representative of the German euro net member LWL-Coordination office for drug-related issues in 2014. She was president of our network up to December 2016 and had here place in the board as vice-president upon to her retirement six weeks ago.
Gaby Bruchmann is the name of her successor. In Oslo, the network elected Bruchmann unanimously in the presidium.

Welcome to euro net, Gaby Bruchmann!

Network Conference in Oslo

Main topic of the last euro net network conference was the problem of drug use in the elderly. Practical approaches at European level in prevention and treatment were shared.
The conference took place in Oslo at 28.11.2017. Eleven of 17 euro net members were able to participate.
The discussion about the drug use in the elderly showed that it is a problem Europe-wide. Specific care plans and prevention methods are necessary. Best practices from Catalonia, Belgium and Germany have shown, that in prevention work for elderly people, we don’t have to start from scratch.
There are two different target groups:
– Seniors (60+) with problematic substance use
– Aging drug users
Seniors with problematic substance use often have got a missing daily structure. They want to remain active and to be needed. Health complains, medications and further circumstances often follow.
For this target group the only thing that matters is the person, not the substance. It is very important to keep this people socialy included – even after the working time. Different examples from the Netherlands and Finland were very innovative, e.g. senior-TV and video chats for “common” meals.

The risk to die because of drug abuse has been reduced the last decades. Especially because of harm reduction like syringe exchange and methadone programmes. But how to deal with elderly and addicted people, who do not fit to common nursing homes? Germany presented an example for long-term home prospect for aging and chronic drug addicted people. Aim of this institution is not to become the inhabitants clean and sober, top of the line for them would be to be substituted in a correct way.

All participants agreed that it is important to have a look at these target groups and to share best practices. It could be conducive to develop a project proposal to prove effective methods on European level.