ASMI Teams with Life Education
ASMI has formed a partnership with Life Education to support the development of a new program, Medicine Matters, which will target more than 330,000 students aged 8 to 11, over a three year period.
Life Education is a registered charity and not-for-profit organisation which provides programs for primary school children with the aim of developing the social skills and knowledge necessary for effective decision-making, communication, negotiation, peer resistance and refusal in illicit drug-related situations.
Medicine Matters will be developed as an interactive multimedia program, supported by student and teacher manuals. The program subjects will include medicines, classifying legal drugs, bullying, effective communication skills, friendships, family, and giving and receiving help.
As with all Life Education programs, the content of Medicine Matters will be based on sound theory and current research.
Using a combination of menu-driven delivery methods including quizzes, special activities and visual innovation, the program will provide a unique opportunity to educate children on the Quality Use of Medicines (QUM).
The program is consistent with ASMI’s strategic policy of placing Self Care at the forefront of community health in Australia. By reaching out to children at primary level, we hope to lay the foundation for a lifelong understanding of how to make the right choices in relation to health and wellbeing.
Life Education was founded in 1974 by the late Reverend Ted Noffs, who is best known for his work at the Wayside Chapel in Kings Cross in Sydney.
Today, Life Education is the largest non-government provider of Drug and Health Education in Australia and delivers programs to 750,000 primary children annually - a total of 5 million students to date. The organisation maintains 100 Mobile Learning Centres nationally and its programs are delivered by 120 highly trained full and part-time educators.
We will keep you updated on the progress of this innovative and exciting new partnership.
For more information on Life Education, visit: www.lifeeducation.org.au/
Articles on this partnership appeared in the 2009 and 2008 ASMI Annual Reports. See: www.asmi.com.au/about/Annual-Reports.aspx