Appendix B- Resources on Evidence-Based and Practice-Based Strategies and Activities.docx

Appendix B – Resources on Evidence-Based/Practice-Based Strategies and Activities Appendix B – Resources on Evidence-Based and Practice-Based Strategies and Activities The following resources are a collection of evidence-based and practice-based strategies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and additional sources to address substance use and misuse among youth. This is not an exhaustive list, but rather a starting point for coalitions to refer to as they consider which strategies will work best in their communities to implement the CARA program.

Strategies to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Use/Misuse There are a variety of ways to increase awareness and reduce exposure to opioids and prevent opioid use disorder, such as:

· Community education on the dangers of youth opioid and/or prescription drug use/misuse. See CDC’s Rx Awareness Campaign website.

· CDC’s Evidence-Based Strategies for Preventing Opioid Overdose, which serves as an introduction to 10 opioid overdose prevention strategies for community leaders, public heath, law enforcement, local organizations, and others striving to serve their community.

· Patient education on the safe storage and disposal of prescription opioids.

· Increasing awareness and availability of safe storage and prescription drug disposal options.

· Supporting state prescription drug laws in addition to other policies and practices at the state level. See CDC’s guidance on promising strategies states have used to address prescription drug misuse, abuse, and overdose.

Resources and Strategies to support School-based and Family-based Interventions The Preventing Drug Use among Children and Adolescents: A Research-Based Guide for Parents, Educators, and Community Leaders presents updated prevention principles, an overview of program planning, and outlines specific school-based programs to prevent substance use among adolescents. It also highlights actions that parents, educators, and community leaders can take to support substance-use prevention, including strategies for middle and high school students that support:

· Peer relationships

· Self-efficacy and assertiveness

· Drug resistance skills

· Reinforcement of antidrug attitudes

· Strengthening of personal commitments against drug abuse CDC’s Health Education Curriculum Analysis Tool (HECAT) develops appropriate and effective curricula across grade spans (e.g., PreK-2; 3-5; 6-8; 9-12). The HECAT includes nine health-related topic modules, including Alcohol and Other Drugs and Tobacco. The tool details health behavior outcomes (HBOs) to be addressed by health education curricula. Schools can use these topic-specific HBOs to help evaluate existing substance use prevention programs or use as the foundation for creating new curricula.

The What Works Clearinghouse from the Institute of Education Sciences reviews the existing research on different programs, products, practices, and policies in education. This resource contains school-based interventions that are effective and appropriate for specific grade levels.

Strategies for Community-wide Prevention of Prescription Drugs CADCA’s Online PreventMedAbuse Toolkit contains facts, strategies and tools to prevent and reduce teen Rx and over-the-counter (OTC) medicine abuse in communities. This resource is based on CADCA’s Seven Strategies for Effective Community Change. Incorporating these strategies will help communities formulate, modify and implement prevention and intervention strategies.

Strategies for Youth Engagement Youth engagement is the involvement of young people in decision-making to create positive social change, which gives youth the ability and authority to make decisions that improve the environment, change social norms, and reduce substance use and misuse in their communities. CDC’s Best Practices Guide for Youth Engagement contains strategies to engage youth in tobacco prevention efforts that can be adapted to other programs.

Strategies/Resources to Address Underlying Factors Preventing Adverse Childhood Experiences: ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood and can include violence, abuse, or neglect, witnessing violence in the home or community, or having a family member attempt or die by suicide, substance misuse, mental health problems, and parental or household member separation. These factors are strongly linked to youth substance use and misuse. See CDC’s technical package on ACEs to help states and communities leverage the best available evidence to prevent ACEs. It features six strategies, including:

· Strengthen economic supports to families

· Promote social norms that protect against violence and adversity

· Ensure a strong start for children

· Teach skills

· Connect youth to caring adults and activities

· Intervene to lessen immediate and long-term harms

Preventing Youth Violence: Youth violence has serious and lasting effects on the physical, mental, and social health of young people, including increased risk of substance use/misuse. There are individual, familial, and peer/social risk factors that influence the perpetuation of violence, substance use, and other harmful behaviors. See CDC’s technical package on youth violence prevention. Multiple strategies in community settings can be deployed to reduce risk factors, while ultimately reducing substance use/abuse risk. Prevention strategies include:

· Promote family environments that promote healthy development

· Creating protective youth environments

· Connecting youth to caring adults and activities

· Create protective community environments

Additional Links and Resources:

· CDC’s Division of Overdose Prevention website contains resources and materials for states and communities on preventing overdose deaths.

· CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health website includes statistics, resources, and strategies to address youth substance use. https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/substance-use/index.htm

· CDC funds nine drug overdose and opioid-involved death Injury Center Research Centers (ICRC) throughout the country addressing the opioid crisis with research, training, and outreach. ICRCs are great sources of research knowledge.

· SAMHSA’s Finding Evidence-based Programs and Practices provides evidence-based prevention programs and practices for prevention practitioners and individuals working in related behavioral health fields.