Most people start using tobacco in their pre-teen and teen years, a time during which a youth’s brain is still growing, making it easier to get addicted to the nicotine in tobacco. That’s why it’s important to educate youth about the dangers of tobacco and the fact that they are targeted by the tobacco companies and should say “no” to starting.
Increasing the price of tobacco products and presenting messages that counter the tobacco industry’s marketing are among the ways in which we can help youth never start using tobacco.
Policies that make “tobacco-free” the norm and that protect youth from getting and using these deadly products are also important. 24/7 tobacco-free school policy, prohibiting the sale of flavored tobacco products, and having tobacco-free outdoor parks and beaches are all examples of policies that may help prevent kids from using tobacco.
Parents and educators will find the following short videos helpful in identifying the risks of youth drug and alcohol use. The University of Virginia’s Gordie Center released this video series in partnership with Region Ten Community Services Board. To learn more, go to https://regionten.org/blog/talk/.
Risk and protective factors are a set of influences that can be present in the individual, family, social/peer and community/society domains. Risk factors found in society include discrimination, marginalization, and poverty. Societal protective factors include culture and religion.
The Behavioral Health Treatment Needs Assessment Toolkit is intended to provide states and other payers with information on the prevalence and use of behavioral health services; step-by-step instructions to generate projections of utilization under insurance expansions; and factors to consider when deciding the appropriate mix of behavioral health benefits, services, and providers to meet the needs of newly eligible populations. The Toolkit was developed by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
Effective prevention practices just don’t sustain themselves. To produce and maintain positive substance misuse prevention outcomes, communities and organizations need to sustain the prevention practices responsible for those outcomes. These include implementing: Effective strategic planning processes and Interventions that work.
Effective prevention efforts focus on impacting the individual, peers, families, and the overall community environment. It is the role of coalitions to reduce substance misuse in the larger community by implementing comprehensive, multi-strategy approaches using a public health approach to prevention.
This checklist, developed by SAMHSA’s Center for the Application of Prevention Technologies, walks you through the steps to plan for sustainability. Coalitions can use this guide as they work through their sustainability plan.
The elements of successful recruitment aren’t complex, but they do take time and resilience. Engaging a potential partner requires careful research, relationship building, and a strategic pitch. But even with careful preparation, there will be times when your efforts don’t pan out—at least not initially. This tool presents some tried-and-true tips from seasoned prevention practitioners on “getting to yes” when recruiting potential prevention partners.
As the first step in the Strategic Prevention Framework, the assessment process involves the collection of data to define the problems, resources and readiness of a community to address needs and gaps in service.
Phase 1 of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) focuses on understanding the pressing substance use issues. Key activities include gathering data to understand problems, choosing a problem of practice, and assessing community readiness to address the problem of practice.
