Projects

HaLT – Hard at Limit

In Germany, adolescents have their first experiences with alcohol at an early age. In addition to personal reasons for drinking alcohol, there are structural conditions that promote or at least encourage adolescent consumption. A key factor influencing the consumptive behavior of adolescents is the availability of alcoholic beverages. Alcohol consumption can have serious health and social consequences. Despite the positive cumulative trend in recent years, the proportion of alcohol consumption that is associated with health risks has increased in Germany, particularly among young adults over the age of 18.

The prevention program “HaLT – Hard at LimiT” promotes quality-assured prevention of alcohol abuse by adolescents and young adults throughout Germany. The prevention program “HaLT – Hart am LimiT” stands for quality-assured prevention of alcohol abuse by adolescents and young adults throughout Germany. It is intended to promote the responsible consumption of alcohol. As of September 2020, there are 161 HaLT locations in 14 German states, operating under different organizational and financial frameworks. To ensure the quality of the nationwide program without losing sight of the individual needs of HaLT sites, the HaLT program has revised its framework. In the new module-based structure, additional modules and prevention programs have been integrated and quality management, quality development and network coordination aspects have been addressed. In addition, a new range of topics and target groups have been defined to be included in the HaLT program.

The evaluation of the HaLT program will not only include adolescents and young adults between the ages of twelve and 21, but also the professionals on site, multipliers, and the state and location coordinators of the program. The aim of the evaluation is to examine how the modules that have been developed around the new topics are implemented in the field and what facilitating and inhibiting factors are recorded during the implementation process. Data will be collected through qualitative and quantitative methods using a mixed-methods approach. In addition, the instruments of network and document analysis are used.

The evaluation during the implementation of the new framework concept is funded by the SHI Alliance for Health – a joint initiative of the statutory health insurance funds for the further development of health promotion and prevention in living environments. The Federal Center for Health Education (BZgA) has assigned the inav with the evaluation on behalf of the SHI Alliance for Health.

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