Adaptations of the pilot of the unplugged#tamojunto program for health promotion and drug prevention in Brazilian schools

Abstract

The prevention of the use of alcohol and other drugs in Brazil is markedly discontinuous with a predominant model not based on evidence. In 2013, the General Coordination Office of Mental Health, alcohol and other drugs (Ministry of Health) implemented the European school program Unplugged#Tamojunto in the municipalities of São Paulo (SP), São Bernardo do Campo (SP) and Florianópolis (SC), involving 2,161 public school students. The research aimed to elaborate recommendations to adapt the program to the Brazilian context. The qualitative study is based on the Constructivist Grounded Theory and analyzed the institutional documents: “Cartographic Diaries”, “Logical Spreadsheet of Cultural Adaptation” and a research report titled “Results of the Implementation of the Unplugged Pilot Program in São Paulo and Santa Catarina” (UFSC and UNIFESP). The theoretical formulations were organized from the Theory of Dissemination of Innovations and revealed that the following is required: a paradigmatic change in the professional approach to drugs, greater adherence to interactive methodologies, adaptation of class time, commitment to school management, promotion of intersectoriality between health and education, consolidation of the monitoring process and ethical alignment with the principles of health promotion.