Effectivess of Community-based Drug Abuse Prevention Program on Quality of life in East Agarbaayzaan

This research is conducted for evaluating community-based drug abuse prevention program in East Azarbaayjaan. The aims of the research were to answer these questions:1. How much participation was there in program?2. What are these organizations’ self-determined goals? How much of these goals did they reach?3. Regarding self-determined goals, improving community’s attitudes, drug abuse incidence, and quality of life, is the program, after 6 month administration, effective? The research method was before — after study with non-randomized control group. Self-determined goals were detected qualitatively via observation and focus group discussions. Independent t-tests show community-based prevention has created improvements in attitudes and qualities of lives of the people in program communities significantly more than control communities, but it didn’t reduce the incidence rate of drug use.Correlations between participation in program and changes in attitudes, incidence rate, and quality of life, were 0.89, 0.44, and 0.49, respectively. Logically and based on the model hypothesized for research, community action was expected to change first attitudes, then use incidence, and finally quality of life. According to the new hypothetical model, the relation among variables is nonlinear and community action without any effect on incidence can improve the community quality of life; an effect which can be postulated as mediated by improved attitudes or directly from the intervention.