Seminar series articulates NRC’s sustained efforts to harness latest technology to improve awareness and community engagement
Abu Dhabi: As part of its strategic priority to promote mental health and prevent addiction, the National Rehabilitation Center (NRC) recently hosted a series of virtual awareness seminars titled ‘Parenting Skills,’ to enhance parents’ ability to educate their children and protect them from potential dangers of addiction, both in virtual and real-life contexts.
The month-long series was conducted by leading psychologists and experts in health awareness from NRC who utilized the latest visual communication tools to discuss important topics such as ‘family communication.’ This provided parents with an opportunity to improve their skills to effectively communicate with their children amidst fast paced life of the digital era. The seminars also examined ‘parental supervision,’ where parents were educated about the ways to supervise their children by following sound and healthy principles, especially in adolescence, and the need to help teenagers develop self-censorship skills.
His Excellency Dr Hamad Al Ghafri, Director General of NRC, said: “This seminar series reiterates our commitment to extending the specialized medical, psychological and counseling support of our medical and psychological professionals to not only to addiction patients and their families, but also to the entire society.”
He added: “Awareness is the key in our collective fight against addiction and everything leads to it. Therefore, we are keen to step up our awareness drive and increase the effectiveness of different tools and channels to disseminate our message to all members of society. This message highlights the need to create a healthy and solid family setting for future generations to thrive and lead our society.”
For his part, Dr. Anas Fikri, Head of Health Education Section, Department of Public Health and Research, NRC, said: “At NRC, we are committed to utilizing the most innovative tools to effectively deliver our awareness activities and preventive programs to the target audience. To achieve this goal, we draw on the expertise of highly trained Emirati professions to implement these programs and activities, in line with the Center’s vision and the government’s efforts to build a healthy and prosperous society.”
The virtual seminars included a detailed presentation on the effective methods and social skills to combat drugs. Experts also discussed the importance of ‘role models’ and the need to select the right role models for our children. Parents and guardians also learned how to deal with the daily challenges and pressures in the presence of their children and how to master the skills needed to become perfect role models for their children.
The seminars also highlighted the methods of instilling good order and discipline in children, as well as the use of problem-solving skills. Parents were also introduced to appropriate ways of dealing with negative behaviors that their children might exhibit.
To effectively communicate its awareness messages to the broadest possible audience, NRC aims to develop and strengthen its partnerships with like-minded organizations operating in education and community development, including the UAE National Anti-Narcotics Council, the Department of Community Development, Emirates National Schools, the Anti-Narcotics Department, the Department of Education and Knowledge, the United Arab Emirates University and Abu Dhabi University.
NRC offers an electronic service for all government and private entities in the UAE to request awareness sessions for their employees on an array of topics related to mental health and addiction prevention. The Center also invites all community members to follow its official social media accounts on Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, YouTube (@nrcuae), Telegram and Snapchat (nrc_uae), as well as Facebook (nrc_uae), to benefit from its lectures, seminars and regular awareness messages.
