The Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth (P.A.R.T.Y.) Program is a dynamic and interactive injury awareness and health promotion program that uses clinical reality to show participants the consequences that can occur when engaging in risk-taking behaviour. The program was established in 1986 at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto, Canada (www.partyprogram.com), and now operates at more than 100 sites worldwide.
The P.A.R.T.Y. Program has been running at The Alfred since 2009 as an initiative of the National Trauma Research Institute, where it was initially delivered as a single day, In-hospital model for senior school students. The program has adapted content and expanded its delivery models to target different cohorts of participants and achieve greater reach within the population of Victoria. P.A.R.T.Y. at The Alfred is supported by funding from the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), AAMI and in-kind support from The Alfred.
P.A.R.T.Y. aims to provide participants with information that will enable them to recognise potential injury-producing situations, make prevention-oriented choices, and adopt behaviours that minimise unnecessary risk. At The Alfred, participants engage with paramedics, doctors, nurses, allied health practitioners, patients and their families in the hospital, outreach and online setting. Learning occurs through a combination of classroom‐based information delivery, interactive scenario-based learning and proactive demonstrations. P.A.R.T.Y. at The Alfred shares a common goal with all P.A.R.T.Y. sites and trauma systems throughout Australia, to reduce the impact of trauma and burden of injury on society.
P.A.R.T.Y. at The Alfred aims to continue to produce evidence‐based research demonstrating program effectiveness.