DON'T LET METH TAKE HOLD
Preventing methamphetamine use through knowledge and awareness
Research has found that using methamphetamine, even just a few times, can have life-long health consequences. Research teams from the University of South Australia have created a campaign to raise awareness of these effects, to discourage methamphetamine use in our communities. These assets are available for partnered use.
There is strong evidence from multiple sources indicating that there is a serious methamphetamine problem in Australia. For example, data from the last National Drug Strategy Household Survey suggests that 1.3 million Australians have used methamphetamine or ‘ice’ at some stage in their lifetime (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2016). Regular and ongoing analysis of methamphetamine levels in waste water, an index of methamphetamine consumption in the community, suggests that the problem affects metro, regional, and remote communities in all states and territories.
Our research shows that 47% of people have no idea that methamphetamine has any long-lasting consequences on health. This campaign seeks to change that.
Associate Professor Gabrielle Todd, University of South Australia
To develop effective preventative strategies, it is essential to have a solid evidence-based understanding of the effects of methamphetamine on users and to establish which effects are most influential in targeted messages. The immediate health and social effects of methamphetamine have been well documented and publicised. However, the long-lasting consequences of methamphetamine use have received less attention.
Knowledge of such consequences that persist or arise months to years after cessation of drug use has not previously been studied for potential use in methamphetamine campaigns, and could form the basis of an effective harm minimisation message.
A multidisciplinary team of scientists, clinicians, and drug and alcohol treatment and education providers was formed to address this knowledge gap. The team is led by Associate Professor Gabrielle Todd, a senior neuroscientist at the University of South Australia. The team combined their expertise to:
- demonstrate that using methamphetamine, as little as 5 times, is associated with significant long-lasting effects on the brain and movement
- create a multi-platform, evidence-based campaign highlighting the long-lasting effects of methamphetamine on the brain and movement.
This research has been kindly supported by the Fay Fuller Foundation and the University of South Australia.
The campaign assets can be viewed below and are available for partnered use.
Don’t Let Meth Take Hold
-
The Campaign
A new evidence-based, ready-to-use health campaign was created based on the University of South Australia led research detailed below. The campaign, called ‘Don’t let meth take hold’, seeks to increase knowledge of the long-lasting consequences of methamphetamine use on the brain and movement, change attitudes towards methamphetamine, and discourage use of the drug.
A team of marketing science experts were engaged to ensure maximum efficacy in the execution. Associate Professor Svetlana Bogomolova from the University of South Australia’s Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science provided best-practice empirically tested advertising insights during the creative process based on marketing science and focus group research. Campaign creative development and production was undertaken by KWP!, a multi award-winning advertising agency based in Adelaide, South Australia.
During the conceptual phase, creative concepts were shown to focus groups and experts in the drug and alcohol treatment and education sector to test their reactions and the effectiveness of each idea. The final campaign is designed to show the audience how methamphetamine use can impact on daily life and how it can impair the ability to perform simple tasks, both of which may lead to feelings of frustration and social embarrassment. The focus groups said that the objects shown in the advertisements resonated with them strongly, and the link between methamphetamine use and impaired movement was very clear. The advertisements are showing what the reality of having impaired hand and brain function is really like through the use of common objects, and with a final reveal to ensure emotional impact.
This campaign has been created for partner organisations to use at a state, national, or international level with their own media budgets. A small fee payable to the advertising agency will apply to ensure the campaign is branded with your organisation logo, and to meet advertising regulatory requirements before being dispatched as per your booked media schedule.
UniSA welcomes questions from potential partners to Associate Professor Gabrielle Todd.
Campaign Assets
Television Commercial (30 seconds)
Television Commercial (15 seconds)
> Download Radio Audio (7.8MB)
These campaign assets are the property of the University of South Australia and are not to be distributed or published without prior agreement with the University of South Australia.
-
The Research
Long-lasting effects of methamphetamine on the brain and movement
Figure 1. Substantia nigra morphology and clinical signs of Parkinson’s disease in methamphetamine users and non-drug using controls (Todd et al 2016 Parkinsonism Relat Disord 25:27-32).
Research performed at the University of South Australia demonstrates that use of methamphetamine in young-to-middle aged adults is associated with long-lasting changes in movement and the structure and function of movement-related brain regions. For example, young adults with a history of methamphetamine use exhibit movement deficits that resemble Parkinson’s disease, and have an abnormal appearance of a movement-related brain region called the substantia nigra (source). These abnormalities were observed in adults with an average age of 30 years who had normal memory and cognition, used methamphetamine as little as five or more times, and been abstinent from methamphetamine for an average of two years. The results of the study have been independently verified by a European research group.
The team have also documented long-lasting changes in hand function and the excitability of the neural pathway that transmits movement commands from the brain to hand muscles. However, the ability to learn new fine motor skills is unaffected.
Community awareness of the long-lasting effects of methamphetamine on health
The research team conducted an anonymous online survey of 252 Australians aged 26±8 years in 2017-2018. The survey contained questions about the short- and long-lasting health consequences of methamphetamine, and which health consequences are most important to them. The results of the study demonstrate that community knowledge about the short-term effects of methamphetamine on health and behaviour is good.
However, knowledge of the long-lasting effects of methamphetamine on health was poor with 47% of participants stating that they had no idea that methamphetamine has any long-lasting consequences on health. Participants were then shown a list of known long-lasting consequences of methamphetamine on health and they were asked to tick the long-lasting effects that they had previously heard about. Less than 20% of survey respondents had heard about the effects of methamphetamine on movement and risk of stroke, and knowledge of the effects of methamphetamine on the heart and kidneys was also poor.
Understanding existing community knowledge about the effects of methamphetamine on health, and identifying where the gaps in knowledge exist, can lead to development of better targeted, and more effective, health messages. Associate Professor Todd says that “knowledge is a powerful tool and raising awareness about the link between methamphetamine use and the way that we move may help discourage young people from using this drug.”
-
The Research Team
- Associate Professor Gabrielle Todd (University of South Australia) is a senior neuroscientist with expertise in the effects of illicit drug use on movement and movement-related brain regions.
- Dr Verity Pearson-Dennett (University of South Australia) is an early career neuroscience researcher who specialises in the effects of illicit drug use on movement and movement-related brain regions.
- Adjunct Professor Jason White (University of South Australia) is an internationally recognised leader in substance misuse and addiction and is the Vice Chair of the World Health Organisation Expert Committee on Drug Dependence.
- Associate Professor Rob Wilcox (Flinders Medical Centre) is an experienced neurologist who specialises in movement disorders.
- Associate Professor Dominic Thewlis (University of Adelaide) is an expert in the biomechanics of human gait.
- Associate Professor Adam Vogel (University of Melbourne) is a speech pathologist with research expertise in the control of speech.
- Professor Adrian Esterman (University of South Australia) is an experienced biostatistician with expertise in clinical trial design and public health methodology.
- Associate Professor Svetlana Bogomolova (University of South Australia) is a senior marketing scientist with expertise in health and social marketing.
- Professor Nicholas Procter (University of South Australia) specialises in substance misuse, mental health, and translation of research into policy/practice.
This campaign has been created to minimise harm in the community caused by methamphetamine use by raising awareness of long-term effects. If your organisation is interested in utilising these campaign assets, please get in touch with Assoiciate Professor Gabrielle Todd. A small fee payable to the advertising agency will apply to ensure the campaign is branded with your organisation logo, and to meet advertising regulatory requirements before being dispatched as per your booked media schedule.
This research has been kindly supported by the Fay Fuller Foundation and the University of South Australia.
