Head of the study: Asst. Prof. Darko Roviš, PhD
E-mail: darko.rovis@medri.uniri.hr
The university specialist study of Health Promotion and Addiction Prevention resulted from the TEMPUS Joint European Project of the European Commission. The aim of the study is to strengthen professional capacities for the implementation of health promotion and addiction prevention programmes. As a consequence of social, political and economic transition after the war in the 90s, the Republic of Croatia has been facing growing public health needs in the field of prevention of risky behaviour among children and young people. According to the data from the Croatian Institute of Public Health, the number of addicts in the Republic of Croatia has increased fivefold in the past ten years (1340 addicts were treated in 1995, and as many as 7733 addicts were treated in 2010). It is also worrying that the abuse of tobacco, alcohol, inhalants and illegal drugs is becoming more common among adolescents. Unfortunately, the few evaluation studies conducted in the Republic of Croatia indicate numerous shortcomings in our prevention system, primarily in the area of planning, implementation and evaluation of prevention programmes. Experts who work with children and young people, primarily in the health and education system, often lack the basic knowledge and skills necessary to implement modern prevention programmes on these new phenomena (such as addiction or violence). This study is based on modern interdisciplinary knowledge about health promotion, prevention of mental and behavioural disorders and other risky behaviours among children and young people. It is designed to combine experiences from practice, primarily through examples of good practice or practice models and academic potential in applying the scientific methodology in planning and evaluation. Teaching on this study programme is conducted by our university teachers and top experts in this field from the Republic of Croatia. Their synergy should increase the quality of the professional and academic community. Thus, in addition to strengthening the professional capacities of the wider professional community, we also expect additional academic development in this field at the University of Rijeka. The study is designed as postgraduate training for specialists of various profiles (physicians, psychologists, school counsellors, social workers, etc.) who already work with children and young people in health and education institutions or in the non-governmental sector. Therefore, we cannot talk about the classic needs of the labour market, but rather about the need for lifelong training and specialisation, which is substantiated by the analysis of the situation in the Republic of Croatia and the experiences from around the world.
The proposed study programme was implemented as a pilot in the form of education that was accredited with the maximum number of points by the Croatian Medical Chamber, Croatian Psychological Chamber and the Education and Teacher Training Agency. Representatives of both chambers and the Agency participated in the curriculum development process as advisory bodies that supported the proposed programme. The Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Teaching Institute for Public Health, the Croatian Institute for Public Health and the Faculty of Education and Rehabilitation Sciences are involved in the study. Practical classes will also take place in the institutions such as schools, associations and the local community. Out of a total of 90 ECTS credits, 49 are compulsory, which makes almost half of the curriculum optional and adapted to the students’ needs. They can obtain some of these credits through mobility at the University of Rijeka, other universities, programmes of other accredited organisations (such as chambers) or through practical scientific research and professional work.