Preliminary evaluation of the educational strategy of a community alcohol use action research project in Scandicci (Italy).

A community project aiming to promote responsible drinking and to prevent alcohol use-related problems in three districts of Scandicci, a town west of Florence, was undertaken between 2000 and 2004. The community totaled 21,851 residents. Among other initiatives, 8,000 carousels that provided information on different levels of alcohol consumption and more than 1,000 prints of nine drawings by local school children that promoted moderate consumption were distributed in the community, respectively, during February-July 2002 and May-June 2003. These formed part of a community educational strategy, spreading messages in keeping with the project's aims. Project process and impact evaluation studies documented firstly that the carousel was visible, interesting, and retained by the community members one year after distribution, while the children's drawing prints were visible and also retained some months later. Secondly, both educational tools were effective in mobilizing the local population because they were locally produced, widely distributed, and displayed in prominent community locations. Thirdly, a change in community opinion occurred during the course of the project from a more rigid idea in 2000 that only alcoholism is a problem toward a more comprehensive understanding in 2003 of community risk from alcohol consumption.