ICAP- Prevention Certified: My Journey

In May 2024, the National Authority for the Campaign hosted the first-ever National Drug Use Prevention Week. I had the privilege of co-hosting the event, where I shared my prevention story. Here's how it all began.

A few years ago, NACADA hosted a National Research Conference to assess Kenya's progress in drug demand reduction programs. During a session, Ms. Susan Maua presented what works and what doesn’t in drug use prevention. This was an "aha" moment for me, and nearly a decade later, I am now ICAP-Prevention (International Certified Addiction Professional-Prevention) certified.

Let me take you back to 2020 when the world came to a standstill. Masks became part of our daily attire, and trust was tested as everyone was a suspect. But every cloud has a silver lining. Dr. Josephine Choong (Dr. Jo) from the Drug Advisory Programme of the Colombo Plan rolled out the first online training, Core Course 10: Introduction to the Universal Prevention Curriculum Series for Practitioners. After a rigorous three-month training filled with "Can you hear me?", "Can you see me?", and "Is my screen visible?" moments, I received my certificate. This training was crucial, as it marked the beginning of my journey toward ICAP-Prevention Certification.

Why drug use prevention? First, I am a Social Scientist by training and practice, specializing in sociology and development communication. I seek to understand and answer the what, why, who, when, where, and how of human behavior. Drug use prevention is a science, not a hunch or a mere activity. It is based on theory and evidence and involves evidence-based interventions.

Second, drug use prevention focuses on delaying or avoiding initiation into substance use and helping those who have started to avoid dependence. This is at the heart of behavior change communication. Prevention science studies human development and social etiology, identifying factors and processes leading to positive or negative outcomes. For me, drug use prevention was the magic pill to delay or avoid initiation into drug use among children and young people, and I was ready to take it.

Third, drug use prevention offers an opportunity to implement proven methods based on theory and research. My favorite phrase to describe this is, "There is no one size that fits all, and we do not have a general public audience." Drug use prevention allows for designing programs specific to target audiences based on setting, age, risk, and protective factors.

Finally, we all want to make the world a better place by preventing drug use in our respective spaces. Evidence-based prevention interventions go beyond passion to ensure we do no harm while preventing drug use. This requires competence through training, compliance with ethical standards, and now, credentialing.

So, how does one add the ICAP-Prevention feather to their cap? Simple. Visit https://www.globalccc.org/, and start your journey today.