title: Introduction: community action research and the prevention of alcohol problems at the local level.
abstract: Many community action projects from around the world exist to reduce alcohol problems at the local level. The role of research within this international movement is discussed within this introduction for the entire special issue on community action research in alcohol problem prevention. Previous community prevention programs have utilized a variety of prevention strategies: (a) an educational approach which focuses on changing behavior through changes in knowledge, attitudes, and information; and (b) an environmental approach which focuses on changing behavior through changes in the social and economic systems within a community. Many projects have used both approaches. This special issue provides a current overview of many types of community action projects from different countries and summarizes what has been learned to date from these experiences.
authors.affiliation: Alcohol Center, Florence Health Agency, Italy.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Allamani
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Casswell
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Graham
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Holder
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Holmila
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nygaard
mesh_terms: D000437:Alcoholism / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003256:Community Participation / Q000379:methods*; D006266:Health Education / Q000458:organization & administration; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D012931:Social Environment