In a step to contribute towards national efforts in the fight against drug abuse, the University of the South Pacific is conducting a series of free events on addiction and recovery.
The University says 70 representatives from tertiary institutions, the Fiji Police Force, corrections service, counsellors, nurses and health workers and various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) attended a workshop at the Laucala Campus last week.
They say USP academic and psychology expert, Dr Annie Crookes facilitated the workshop to support the professional development and knowledge sharing of the addiction workforce in Fiji.
Dr Crookes says they had good representation from various sectors and this highlights the collective efforts in understanding and combating drug abuse and addiction.
She says they have been working to help develop the network of community-based service providers and advocates involved in supporting the prevention of and recovery from addiction.
Dr Crookes says this comes at an important time given the recent launch of the Counter Narcotics Strategy by the Fiji Government.
She says USP previously hosted focused discussions which fed into the stakeholder consultations before the strategy was launched.
The psychology expert says this latest event provided an introduction to the science of drugs and addiction and how this knowledge can be used when helping community members.
She says they had sessions on defining addiction and understanding the psychology and social models of addiction and importantly, discussions were encouraged around how this scientific understanding would help provide support to clients and community members.
She adds that feedback from attendees has been positive indicating these training, knowledge sharing and networking opportunities are valuable across multiple sectors.
USP says the next workshop is scheduled for August and will focus on understanding the various approaches to treatment and recovery.
