The Report on Alcohol use & Prevention: Border Security Force Punjab Frontier was presented to Mr.A.K.Mitra IPS Director General Border Security Force under Ministry of Home affairs on 10th July2008 by Mr.Suneel Vatsyayan Chairman Nada India along with Ms.V.Pallavi Program officer Nada. Mr.A.P. Singh Addl. DG Mr.K.Sriniwasan DIG(G) of BSF were also presentOver the years a lot of stress has been noticed in the defence forces. Stress related to work place and locations, stress related to hierarchy, stress related to family matters and political issues in and across the border. The work in the armed forces, especially at borders undoubtedly takes its toll on the personnel. The nature of the job is very demanding with adverse climatic conditions, unperceived hours of work, tight scrutiny, a limited scope for family accommodation status, strict discipline and severe penalties for lapses. Because of these reasons stress takes a toll which may even lead to undertaking of extreme activities like attempt to suicide. Therefore, a need was realized by Nada India to deal with the problem of increasing stress levels in the forces.
Accordingly, Nada along with BSF launched Pehchaan health awareness campaign with focus on stress management and education on alcohol prevention among constables and head constables in different sectors of Kolkata and Punjab. The workshops aimed to address the growing stress related pressure among bordermen, as pointed out by Shri A K Mitra, DG BSF. During the workshop acupuncture technique was used as a therapy. Apart from this peer based approach, outreach based services (like one-to-one education, support groups, speaker’s bureau), behaviour change communication along with counseling sessions were adopted for effective outcomes. Mr. Suneel Vatsyayan, Chairman, Nada India said, ‘We ensured that all our workshops were participatory, peer based and preventive to focus on issues like self esteem and well-being’.
Nada India also undertook an exploratory study to assess the extent of incidence of alcohol use among BSF constables and its correlates of worries, depression and awareness about myths about alcohol and HIV. The Project “Assessing the extent of alcoholism among Border Security Force (BSF) personnel deployed in border areas of Punjab and setting up of /developing prevention, treatment, rehabilitation services in-order to reduce incidence of alcoholism” aimed at creating proactive response to the alcohol abuse and related problem by creating an enabling environment among different stakeholders (Medical as well as administrative and supervisory personnel).
Accordingly, Nada along with BSF launched Pehchaan health awareness campaign with focus on stress management and education on alcohol prevention among constables and head constables in different sectors of Kolkata and Punjab. The workshops aimed to address the growing stress related pressure among bordermen, as pointed out by Shri A K Mitra, DG BSF. During the workshop acupuncture technique was used as a therapy. Apart from this peer based approach, outreach based services (like one-to-one education, support groups, speaker’s bureau), behaviour change communication along with counseling sessions were adopted for effective outcomes. Mr. Suneel Vatsyayan, Chairman, Nada India said, ‘We ensured that all our workshops were participatory, peer based and preventive to focus on issues like self esteem and well-being’.
Nada India also undertook an exploratory study to assess the extent of incidence of alcohol use among BSF constables and its correlates of worries, depression and awareness about myths about alcohol and HIV. The Project “Assessing the extent of alcoholism among Border Security Force (BSF) personnel deployed in border areas of Punjab and setting up of /developing prevention, treatment, rehabilitation services in-order to reduce incidence of alcoholism” aimed at creating proactive response to the alcohol abuse and related problem by creating an enabling environment among different stakeholders (Medical as well as administrative and supervisory personnel).
Comments