The project has:
- mitigated gaps in scientific literature regarding formal and informal cooperation between key-actors in outreach interventions addressing PUPS. By recovering European heritage on cooperation practices and sharing best practices, the knowledge produced supported evidence-based interventions and will continue to do so due to the dissemination of scientific papers and training materials.
- validated the effectivity of cooperation practices in outreach work, through three case studies at local level. The implementation of locally adapted interventions proved to reinforce the capacity of outreach CSO to reduce drug demand, through the reinforcement of new evidence-based skills that helped them to make a difference at the local level.
- advocated for the upscaling of evidence-based cooperating practices in outreach interventions, especially the integration of PE. The active participation of different key-actors promoted the upscaling of European heritage and the advocacy function of CSO.
- developed dissemination strategies targeting the greater audience, maximising the project impact by raising the general public's awareness of the need to develop more effective approaches to support PUPS.
Regarding the European dimension, the countries directly benefiting from the action were the ones implementing the research activities (WP2), the training actions and pilot intervention (WP3) and the advocacy actions (WP4): Portugal, Belgic, The Netherlands, Hungary, Greece, Poland and Lithuania. The needs assessment focus-groups, the go-along interviews and the focus-groups attracted different target-groups to the theme in question, disseminating it and highlighting cooperation practices (especially with peers) in outreach work. With WP2, experiences, best practices, data and issues concerning outreach work were collected from different EU countries (Portugal, Belgic, Netherlands, Greece, Poland and Lithuania) and the analysis of the respective EU reports allowed an overall comparison of the experiences in all these countries. After testing the methodology through three case studies at local level (WP3), a set of documents was created (namely the Final Recommendations in cooperation practices in outreach work for pilot-interventions) allowing the replicability and the adoption of this methodology by other EU countries. The development of a strong European advocacy plan, with national seminars and a discussion forum including numerous target-groups (such as academia experts, outreach workers, policy and decision-makers, social workers and healthcare workers) contributed to the discussion and possible implementation of this cooperation methodology in other EU countries, meaning that they can indirectly benefit from this action. The dissemination strategy, including a website, Facebook and Twitter accounts, an e-book with project findings and final recommendations and a promotional video, ensure that the project and its goals are achieved in different EU countries. The dissemination strategy also chose specific key-players in different countries that contributed to a more tailored dissemination that chose the most appropriate channels to further disseminate the project. |
