Definitions of community‐level approaches to address substance‐related harms and lessons learned: A systematic overview of reviews.

Community action focused on sociocultural and environmental influences to prevent alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and related harms is a global priority. Despite this recognition, understanding of effective community‐level approaches is limited. This umbrella review aimed to develop a unifying term...

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Publicado en:American Journal of Community Psychology Vol. 77; no. 3/4; pp. 341 - 372
Autores principales: Gates, Peter, Zocco, Andrea, Farnbach, Sara
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2026
Materias:
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Jun2026
      vid: 77
      iid: 3/4
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      pub: Wiley-Blackwell
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        194784077
        10.1002/ajcp.70071
      ppf: 341
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        atl: Definitions of community‐level approaches to address substance‐related harms and lessons learned: A systematic overview of reviews.
      aug:
        au:
          Gates, Peter
          Zocco, Andrea
          Farnbach, Sara
        affil:
          National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW, Randwick New South Wales,, Australia
          University of Canberra, Bruce Australian Capital Territory,, Australia
      su:
        Community-based programs
        Community involvement
        Community organization
        Alcohol drinking
        Substance abuse risk factors
        Community coordination
        Classroom activities
      sug:
        subj:
          Community-based programs
          Community involvement
          Community organization
          Alcohol drinking
          Substance abuse risk factors
          Community coordination
          Other Individual and Family Services
          Drinking Places (Alcoholic Beverages)
          Classroom activities
      keyword:
        alcohol
        community
        comprehensive
        drugs
        prevention
        systematic review
        alcohol
        community
        comprehensive
        drugs
        prevention
        systematic review
      ab: Community action focused on sociocultural and environmental influences to prevent alcohol and other drug (AOD) use and related harms is a global priority. Despite this recognition, understanding of effective community‐level approaches is limited. This umbrella review aimed to develop a unifying term to define and describe community‐level AOD approaches and summarize lessons learned from implementation. We searched Embase/MEDLINE, PsycINFO, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, two online registries and reference lists of included studies. Eligible reviews focused on community‐level approaches addressing AOD use or harms. Two authors independently screened articles and completed full‐text review and data extraction. We identified 87 reviews, spanning three decades. We propose the term Comprehensive Community Initiatives (CCI) to define community‐level AOD approaches. CCIs involve multiple coordinated initiatives implemented across a community and are categorised into four types and eleven subtypes. School‐based activities, the most common initiative subtype, were reported by reviews to be most effective when interactive and peer‐focused, while fear‐based approaches reportedly lack impact. Meaningful community engagement was central across recommendations to improve effectiveness. We summarize lessons learned for each initiative subtype, including recommendations, barriers, facilitators, and moderators of impact to guide future implementation. Key Highlights: Comprehensive Community Initiatives comprise at least two activities from 11 initiative subtypes.This paper summarises lessons learned from 87 reviews spanning 30 years.Using our definition will promote a shared language and improve the clarity of future research.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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