Prevention: 

“I believe if we confront facts and fears, we achieve real power and unleash a capacity for change.” ~Margaret Heffernan

What is Predictable is Preventable… that’s where YOU come in.

Substance Use Prevention and Mental Health Promotion: How Individuals, Families, and Communities Can Support It.

Communities are made up of sectors that, when strategically aligned, have proven successful when collaborating to create a safe and healthy environment for community members.

A community that promotes coordination and collaboration can transform itself, make efficient use of community resources, and achieve real outcomes by having each work together toward a common goal of raising awareness through education, shattering stigmas by sharing stories, and providing resources commonly associated with substance use/mental health disorders.

Community Sectors below:

Community-Change.jpg

For more information on the Seven Strategies for Community Change

Even in the most favorable circumstances, the journey into and through the teenage years is a perilous period in lifespan development. A few of the most hazardous behaviors confronted during this period involve early substance use and mental health concerns.

 While prevention is aimed at reducing substance use among youth and bringing awareness of mental health concerns is of utmost importance, over time, reducing substance misuse and abuse among adults is also important. Addressing the factors in a community that increase the risk of youth substance use and promoting the factors that minimize the risk of substance use are equally important.

Individuals do not become involved with substances solely based on personal characteristics. A complex set of factors, such as institutional rules and regulations, community norms, mass media messages, and the accessibility of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs, influences them.

When a multi-strategy effort is implemented, communities can contribute to achieving population-level change by focusing on multiple sectors to make a difference communitywide. Environmental strategies effectively modify the settings in which a person lives, which affects how that person behaves.

Prevention works when individuals, families, and community sectors come together to take action. Often, community problems and concerns are too large and complex for any one agency, organization, or sector of the community. By mobilizing diverse community sectors to analyze data and implement strategies, communities can foster effective programs, policies, and practices that reduce substance abuse.

Substance use, misuse, and disorders are complex, multifaceted problems requiring involvement from all community sectors, from parents to healthcare, schools, and businesses.  Join youth, parents, health professionals, business leaders, law enforcement, and policymakers to protect young people from these dangers and transform communities into healthier places to live, work, and play. 

This is a CALL TO ACTION!

Prevention Is a Shared Responsibility Across Community Sectors

Keep in mind that the community sectors of prevention resources that are included are just suggestions. Trust your instincts. Choose ideas you are comfortable with, and use your style to carry out the helpful approaches. As individuals/ families/community members, we look to each other for guidance and support in making life decisions, including the decision on drugs and alcohol.  

Language binds us together. In personal and professional matters, the words we choose have a lasting impact and effect on our impressions of ourselves and others.  The ADDICTIONary is a comprehensive glossary of key terms related to addiction and recovery, some well-known and others less so.

You can access the Recovery Research Institute ADDICTIONary here. 

Parent and Caregiver: Resources and Support to Prevent High Risk Behaviors

When people start using substances at a younger age, the brain structure and function changes are very pronounced,” he explained. “If we could only get kids to postpone their first drink or their first use of drugs, we could greatly diminish the prevalence of addiction in the U.S. Addiction is a pediatric disease," says Dr. John Knight, founder and director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research at Boston Children's Hospital. When adults entering addiction treatment are asked when they first began drinking or using drugs, the answer is almost always the same: They started when they were young teenagers," said Knight.

  • The NeuroWhereAbouts Guide provides parents with the developmentally appropriate prevention science they need to set children up for success from elementary school to college. Dr. Crystal Collier offers a validated neurodevelopmental approach to help parents raise their kids to avoid high-risk behaviors. In the guide, Dr. Collier shows what healthy brain development looks like, how risky behaviors can derail that trajectory, and how to keep development on track. Know Your Neuro: Prevention works when applied consistently as children go through each neurodevelopmental stage. Know Your Neuro offers families the right information at the right time.

  • One Choice works to normalize substance non-use for youth.

  • Healthy Children, Powered by Pediatricians. Drug Abuse Prevention starts with Parents; drug abuse prevention starts with parents learning to talk with their children about complex topics. Then, the programs offered by your community (school, sports, and other groups) can support what families have started.

  • Operation Parent: helping parents have casual, courageous conversations.

  • Halpern-Felsher REACH Lab, Stanford Medicine, REACH stands for Research and Education to Empower Adolescents and Young Adults to Choose Health. The Stanford REACH Lab's mission is to empower and promote adolescent and young adult health through collaborative research, education, and policy. 

  • The New Drug Talk / Song for Charlie. Fentanyl has changed the drug landscape, and we must change how we talk to kids about it. This site provides education, free tools, and expert advice to help California families connect and stay safe.

  • Johnny’s Ambassadors is on a mission to educate teens, parents, and communities about the dangers of today’s potent THC products (marijuana, dabs, vapes, edibles) on adolescent brain development, psychosis, and suicide. We focus on youth THC awareness, prevention, and education. Primarily, we share data-driven facts and clear messaging with teens and parents to reduce the likelihood they will use marijuana and stop progression to more problematic use.

  • National Institute of Drug Abuse – NIH. Find the latest science-based information about the health effects and consequences of drug abuse and addiction, and resources for talking with kids about the impact of drug use on health.

  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA-NIH), make a difference and talk to your kids (booklet/guide) about alcohol. The booklet/guide is geared to parents and guardians of young people ages 10 to 14.

  • The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA). Preventing Addiction Changes Everything. One way addiction and substance misuse can be prevented is through screening and early intervention. Prevention must begin during childhood and extend into later adolescence. Despite the benefits and availability of screening and early intervention tools, too few health professionals, school personnel, and social service providers routinely screen for tobacco/nicotine, alcohol, and other drug use.

  • Youth Now. Sometimes, you don’t know where to turn to when it comes to basic information about drugs. Youth Now has collected information and links from trusted sources to help you get started.

  • National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. 10 Prevention Tips for Parents

  • HealthyChildren.org Powered by pediatricians. Trusted by Parents. Drug abuse prevention starts with parents learning how to talk with their children about difficult topics. Then, the programs offered by the school, sports, and other groups can support what you have started.

  • Prevention Action Alliance offers several programs that provide parents, coalitions, colleges, universities, and other community members with the information, education, and support they need to drive positive change.

  • Get Smart about Drugs, a DEA resource for parents, educators, and caregivers, aims to increase the public’s awareness of the dangers of using drugs. There are three major concepts of drug use prevention research at the core of this strategy: brain development, perceived drug use as harmful, delaying substance use, and substance use disorders.

    • Growing up Drug-Free: A Parent’s Guide to Prevention. As a parent, you can control many of the risk and protective factors in your home. Remember that parents and caregivers are the most important role models in children’s lives.

    • Operation Prevention: Parents can join the conversation with this family discussion starter. Additional information on the warning signs of prescription opioid misuse and a guide to prevention and intervention empower families to reach out.

    • Just Think Twice provides credible information about the harmful effects of drug use.

    • Get Smart About Drugs provides valuable drug education information for parents, educators, and caregivers to help further identify drug use, drug paraphernalia, warning signs of drug use, and the harmful side effects of the most commonly abused drugs.

    • Campus Drug Prevention's efforts to support drug abuse prevention programs on college campuses and in surrounding communities.

  • Ask, Listen, Learn provides youth ages 9-14, their parents, and educators with information about the dangers of underage drinking.

  • SAMHSA, Underage Drinking Partners

    • Talk. They hear you! Underage drinking prevention campaign helps parents and caregivers start talking to their children early about the dangers of alcohol.

Oregon Organizations and Groups: Involved in reducing, supporting, and collecting data on substance use and mental health

  • Oregon Family Support Network is a statewide non-profit organization that supports families raising children with significant mental health challenges. We provide education, support, and advocacy for individual families and support systems. Our services are community-based to meet families' unique needs and may therefore look a little different in every community.

  • The Oregon-Idaho HIDTA mission is to facilitate, support, and enhance collaborative drug control efforts among law enforcement agencies and community-based organizations, thus significantly reducing the impact of illegal trafficking and use of drugs throughout Oregon and Idaho.

  • OHA, Alcohol, Cannabis, and Tobacco Use Data. Includes prevalence of alcohol, cannabis, and tobacco use from a variety of data sources. See the Health Care & Chronic Conditions and Chronic Conditions & Risk Factors pages for tobacco and alcohol-related diseases.

  • Oregon Department of Transportation: Governor’s Advisory Committee on DUII

  • Prescription Drug Abuse Policy System (PDAPS) – Oregon. Unintentional drug overdose is a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Administering naloxone hydrochloride (“naloxone”) can reverse an opioid overdose and prevent these unintentional deaths. State-specific naloxone-related legislation is a NIDA resource that includes maps and data on Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and Good Samaritan 911 Laws.

  • Oregon Liquor Cannabis Commission: Cannabis Recreational Use FAQs, What’s Legal & Alcohol and Minors

  • Oregon Coalition of Prevention Professionals. The Oregon Coalition of Prevention Professionals (ORCPP) represents prevention professionals across Oregon and works together to advance the field of community-based prevention. Through strategic planning, leadership, and advocacy, we support healthy, safe, and thriving communities.

  • State Law in Oregon: Social Hosting, What does state law say? Many well-intentioned parents think that letting their children drink at home will, in the long run, teach them to drink responsibly and prevent them from drinking elsewhere. Early consumption of alcohol in any context increases the likelihood of long-term problems. State Profiles of Underage Drinking Laws

  • Trauma-Informed Oregon is committed to supporting human service organizations and systems in recognizing and responding to the impact of trauma on the workforce and the children, youth, adults, and families they serve. The resources on this page address several aspects of implementing trauma-informed care to improve program and service design and the organizational context in which they are delivered. Community Response and Resources.

  • NAMI, Oregon volunteers bring peer-led programs to various community settings, from churches to schools to NAMI Affiliates. With the unique understanding of people with lived experience, these programs and support groups provide outstanding free education, skills training, and support. NAMI Clackamas County. Education, Training, Programs

  • Alcohol & Drug Policy Commission, Prevention Committee is an independent state government agency created by the Oregon Legislature to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of state and local alcohol and drug abuse prevention and treatment services.

  • Clackamas County Prevention Coalition (CCPC) is a collaboration of partners representing county government, schools, youth-serving organizations, law enforcement agencies, civic and volunteer groups, health-care professionals, and other community stakeholders interested in promoting healthy, safe communities and positive youth development. Clackamas County Behavioral Health supports the health of our communities through mental health and addiction services.

  • Tualatin Together Unites the community to engage, educate, and advocate for Tualatin’s youth and families to make healthy decisions.

  • Tigard Turns the Tides. Using strategies such as youth and adult education, social norms marketing, advocacy, and increased law enforcement, the Coalition has significantly reduced alcohol use among Tigard youth.

  • Oregon City Together, Envisioning healthy, drug-free futures for all youth.

  • Oregon City Gladstone Partnership for Youth

  • Work2BeWell. Work2BeWell is a teen-led mental health and wellness program focused on providing free mental health resources for teens, educators, and communities. Our goal is to promote wellness across the country, working to normalize the conversation about mental health and reduce the stigma through education.

  • Lines for Life, Preventing Substance Abuse and Suicide

  • Northwest Family Services offers many programs and services in the Portland metropolitan area. School-based programs include case management, after-school and summer programs, groups, and various services, including alcohol and drug, suicide, gang, and child sex trafficking prevention.

    • Vibrant Futures Coalition is a prevention coalition committed to serving the North Clackamas area. Our focus is on utilizing resources to educate the community, prevent access, and reduce underage drinking, marijuana use, and prescription drug abuse among our youth.

  • Oregon Impact provides educational experiences to end impaired and distracted driving. With an emphasis on teen drivers and those who ride with them, Oregon Impact works with middle schools, high schools & colleges in Oregon and SW Washington. It attends multiple community events yearly to open conversations and encourage good choices.

  • Stay True to You. BEING A TEENAGER IS HARD. Every year, it feels like more is coming at us, more choices, bigger consequences. Parents, Teachers, and Friends. When everyone has an opinion, it can be hard to hear myself think.

Civic Group: Working to Support Communities 

Knowing which civic and volunteer groups are in your community is very important. They are an enormous help and support to grassroots efforts; below are just a few:

  • Rotary, Chamber of Commerce, Elks Club, and Youth Councils are examples.

National Organizations: Focused on Prevention Resources and Research

Workplace: Substance Use Resources & Support

  • Mental Health First Aid at Work. Every Mental Health First Aid at Work training is custom-designed to fit your company’s needs and objectives. We work with you every step of the way to ensure your training addresses your specific challenges.

  • Substance Use Employer Calculator. The Real Cost of Substance Use to Employers” tool, an authoritative, easy-to-use tool providing business leaders with specific information about the cost of substance use (including prescription drug use and misuse, alcohol use and misuse, opioid, and heroin addiction, as well as the use of other illicit drugs and marijuana) in their workplace based on the size of an employee base, industry and state.

  • Lines for Life. Trainings are suitable for many individuals and organizations, including mental health professionals, schools, religious groups, military personnel, community volunteers, or anyone in a position of trust.

  • Drug and Alcohol Deaths at U.S. Workplaces Soar – Deaths jumped more than 30% in 2016 as the struggle with a deadly opioid epidemic migrates to the workplace.

  • The Opioid Crisis comes to the workplace. Tens of thousands of Americans are dying each year from overdoses. It’s a grim trend that has touched almost every aspect of life—even, as the latest Bureau of Labor Statistics figures indicate, work.

  • How to welcome back a colleague who is in recovery. It can be awkward or difficult to welcome back a colleague who has been absent for reasons related to mental health. These issues, historically, have been taboo and are loaded with stigma. Knowing how to act toward a colleague who has returned from treatment for a mental health issue is hard. Do I ask about it? Do I pretend nothing happened? Do I say I hope they are feeling better? Usually, none of these options feels right.

  • SAMHSA, Drug-Free Workplace Programs. Legal requirements (by state), drug-free workplace toolkit, guidelines, and resources.

    • Prepare your workplace: ensure it is ready for your drug-free policy and program by informing, educating, training, and motivating stakeholders.

    Not my kids, corporate lunchbox presentations. Inspiring positive life choices.

  • National Business Group on Health, Center for Prevention and Health Services. Mental and Behavioral Health, several leading employers and content experts focused on mental health and emotional well-being to identify top opportunities and barriers to improvement.

  • Trauma-Informed Oregon is committed to supporting human service organizations and systems in recognizing and responding to the impact of trauma on the workforce.

Healthcare: Prevention Resources and Tools for Screening

  • Surgeon General’s Report, Facing Addiction in America. Prevention Programs and Policies.

  • SBIRT stands for Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment. The model encourages mental health and substance abuse screenings as a routine preventive service in healthcare. SBIRT/SAMHSA: Resources for SBIRT are available online.

  • NIDA has launched two brief online screening tools that providers can use to assess for substance use disorder (SUD) risk among adolescents aged 12-17 years old. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends universal screening in pediatric primary care settings; these tools help providers quickly and easily introduce brief, evidence-based screenings into their clinical practices.

  • Lines for Life. Training is suitable for many individuals and organizations, including mental health professionals, schools, religious groups, military personnel, community volunteers, or anyone in a position of trust.

  • National Association for Children of Addiction. Pediatricians, adolescent medicine specialists, family practitioners, and others can advocate for appropriate community and school-based prevention approaches and educate patients and parents, ensuring that local programs are culturally relevant and appropriate for their communities and populations.

  • American Society of Addiction Medicine. Included are links to prevention resources that might benefit individuals in medical or non-medical roles in preventive or addiction medicine.

  • Dr. Christian Thurstone is one of about three dozen physicians in the United States who are board-certified in general, child and adolescent, and addiction psychiatry. He is the medical director of one of Colorado’s largest youth substance-treatment programs and an associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Colorado Denver (UCD), where he conducts research on youth substance use and addiction and serves as director of medical training for the university’s addiction psychiatry fellowship program.

  • Prescribe to Prevent: Here, you will find the information you need to start prescribing and dispensing naloxone (Narcan) rescue kits, along with useful resources for more information about this life-saving medicine. We are prescribers, pharmacists, public health workers, lawyers, and researchers working on overdose prevention and naloxone access. We compiled these resources to help healthcare providers educate their patients to reduce overdose risk and provide naloxone rescue kits to patients.

  • Office of Adolescence Health. Healthcare resources, Screening.

  • American Pediatrics. Most likely, children in grade school have not begun to use alcohol, tobacco, or any other kind of drug. That is why grade school is a good time to discuss the dangers of substance use. Prepare your child for a time when drugs may be offered.

Legal Systems, School Resource Officer, and First Responders: Tools, Training, and Resources that support Prevention

Educational System: Prevention Resources and Support

  • The Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child (WSCC). Health and education affect individuals, society, and the economy, and, as such, must work together whenever possible. Schools are a perfect setting for this collaboration. Schools are among the most efficient systems for delivering health services and programs to children and youth, as approximately 95 percent of U.S. children and youth attend school. At the same time, integrating health services and programs more deeply into the day-to-day life of schools and students represents an untapped tool for raising academic achievement and improving learning.

  • Oregon Department of Education, Substance Use Prevention Education and Oregon Student Health Survey, OHA

  • Safe Oregon gives kids, parents, schools, and their communities a way to report safety threats or potential acts of violence: prevention is available to download to your phone today! Check to make sure it’s in your School District.

  • Be the Difference Mental Health First Aid Training, teacher/coach. Anyone anywhere can be the one to make a difference in the life of someone with a mental health or substance use challenge if they know what to do and what to say.

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's School Health Profiles is a system of surveys assessing school health policies and practices in states, large urban school districts, and territories.

  • Operation Prevention‘s classroom resources provide educators with engaging tools aligned to national health and science standards and integrate seamlessly into classroom instruction. Through a series of hands-on investigations, these resources introduce students to the science behind opioids and their impact on the brain and body.

  • Know Your Neuro. Know Your Neuro puts brain-based, social-emotional, and prevention skills training right in the hands of schools and caregivers. Designed to be integrated into a school's health or homeroom curriculum, Know Your Neuro videos and class activities can be easily integrated and tailored to fit the developmental needs of K-12 youth.

  • Making Caring Common helps educators, parents, and communities raise caring children who are responsible for their communities and committed to justice.

  • National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, School Discipline Laws & Regulations by State & Category.

  • Trauma-Informed Oregon. Information and resources related to specific fields or topic areas, including schools, healthcare, clinical practice, and addressing suicide.

  • Oregon School-Based Health Alliance. Our mission is to strengthen school-based health services and systems that promote young people's health and academic success.

  • National Association of School Nurses, Learning Center.

  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH) for Teachers. Find the latest science-based information about the health effects and consequences of drug abuse and addiction, and resources for talking with kids about the impact of drug use on health.

  • Challenge Success: Strategies for Healthy, Engaged Kids and Stronger Schools.

  • Peace in Schools, transformative mindfulness education.

  • Crisis Text Line, School Toolkit.

Collegiate Support: Get Smart About Drugs, A DEA Resource for Parents, Educators, and Caregivers. Prevention with Purpose: A Strategic Planning Guide for Preventing Drug Misuse Among College Students

Youth! Connection is the best PREVENTION.

  • KnowYourNeuro. Most students do not drink alcohol, use drugs, or engage in risky behavior. Give voice to this majority by starting a movement and creating positive rights of passage. Learn more about high-risk behavior topics and find skills, answers, and support.

  • Song For Charlie offers evidence-based education, free tools, and expert-created guidance to help families stay connected and safe.

  • Work2BeWell Access free curriculum, resources, and implementation tools to make an impact as a student mental health advocate, educator, or parent. 

  • Youth Now in Washington. Your brain matters; every brain and body is different.

  • National Association for Children of Addiction. Have questions? Get answers. Just for kids.

  • The Herren Project. The prevention of substance use disorder and the daily practice of wellness are two important goals for Chris Herren and the Herren organizations. We believe they go hand in hand.

  • Prevention Source e-journal, Peers-leading-peers in substance use prevention

Faith Community: Prevention Resources and Support  

 Community Sector Involvement – Education is Empowerment

Keep in mind that the community sectors of prevention resources that are included are just suggestions. Trust your instincts. Choose ideas you are comfortable with, and use your style to carry out the helpful approaches. As individuals/ families/community members, we look to each other for guidance and support in making life decisions, including the decision on drugs and alcohol.  

Language binds us together. In personal and professional matters, the words we choose have a lasting impact and effect on our impressions of ourselves and others.  The ADDICTIONary is a comprehensive glossary of key terms related to addiction and recovery, some well-known and others less so.

You can access the Recovery Research Institute ADDICTIONary here.