Your committee is excited and ready to begin the strategic prevention framework. You have diligently worked to get the key stakeholders at the table. Things are looking great. Now it is time for step one, the assessment. You disseminate the results of the substance use survey to each committee member and each notice a high past 30-day consumption rate. Bingo! We know the problem, now we can use that data to select an appropriate evidence-based intervention.
Eeeeeekkkk hit the brakes!
All too often in working with clients, they tend to stop short with their assessment. I get it; We are motivated and want to get to work. To borrow a line from my Army days, “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”
It is okay to slow down if that means digging deeper and doing a more in-depth assessment. To be more effective in your prevention efforts you want to get to the root causes. Be curious!
Try answering these questions:
- What substance use problems and related behaviors are occurring in your community?
- How often are these problems and related behaviors occurring?
- Where are these substance use problems and related behaviors occurring?
- Who is experiencing more of these substance use issues and related behaviors?
But wait there’s more!
To produce real and long-lasting change you will want to target the risk and protective factors influencing the behavioral health problems. That’s right, you need more than just the substance and usage rates.
Identifying which risk and protective factors exist in a community can reveal opportunities to influence substance use patterns and behaviors. To be effective, prevention strategies must address the underlying factors driving these patterns and behaviors. It doesn’t matter how carefully a program or intervention is implemented. If it’s not a good match for the problem, it’s not going to work!
Also, remember that the factors driving an issue in one community may differ from the factors driving it in another community. Because every community is unique, it is important to determine which factors are contributing to substance use and related problems in your community and address those.