Exploring Youth Substance Use Challenges and Solutions: Initial Developments in Participatory Research Focused on the Icelandic Prevention Model

Background: The Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM) represents a promising practice for youth substance use prevention. It applies a community-driven primary prevention approach that is designed to create healthy contexts. Lanark County was the first community in Canada to adopt the IPM and has been pioneering a youth engagement approach to support the implementation. This paper describes the early findings related to a participatory evaluation that was co-designed with young people and focuses on examining youth perspectives on community needs and substance use issues. Method: Our approach integrated three levels of youth involvement, including co-design with youth advisors, collaborative asset mapping and community consultations. For the consultations, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were conducted with 10 young people. A thematic analysis was applied using NVivo software. Results: Thematic analyses of the consultation interviews identified four themes: (1) Social norms and accessibility as influences in youth substance use behaviours, (2), Lack of activities, (3) Intersectional discrimination and (4) Youth suggestions for strategies to enhance the community. Discussion: This research represents a novel participatory approach that includes youth in the strategic design and evaluation of the IPM. It highlights issues related to implementation and the added value of youth perspectives. Our multi-level approach enabled the meaningful engagement of young people within a complex prevention initiative. Findings will support the ongoing efforts in Lanark County and serve to inform other IPM implementations, as well as upstream prevention initiatives that integrate youth engagement.