In October, SAMHSA celebrates Substance Use Prevention Month — an opportunity for the prevention field and prevention partners to highlight the importance and impact of prevention. And given the substance use and overdose challenges facing our country, prevention has never been more important. This month, each of us can inspire action by sharing how prevention is improving lives in communities across our country.
As part of the Biden-Harris administration and the US Department of Health and Human Services” Overdose Prevention Strategyalong with SAMHSA’s Strategic Plan, prevention efforts aim to prevent substance use in the first place, prevent substance use from developing into a substance use disorder, and prevent and reduce use-related harm. Our grantees across the country do just that every day. Here are just a few quick stories of our scholarships in action.
Pueblo of Zuni – Zuni Tribal Prevention Project
Zuni, New Mexico
(Prevention Strategic Framework-Partnerships for Granted Success, FY 2020)
In 2021, Pueblo of the Zuni (Zuni Tribal Prevention Project) developed a Family Wellness Kit program to strengthen family communication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Family bonding, parent-child communicationand cultural identity (PDF | 818 KB) are protective factors against youth substance use and other risk behaviors.
The kits included culturally relevant family cohesion activities and a new type of kit was distributed every month (over 18 months) with:
- Four activities (one for siblings, one for grandparents, one for the whole family and one for siblings, grandparents or family).
- An activity guide with instructions.
- Activity supplies.
- A quick guide with discussion prompts.
- A parent/caregiver’s skill-building guide to active listening, validation, effective communication, family engagement, positive discipline, and boundary setting.
Staff follow-up every three months to check-in with families: 72 activities had been developed and 85 percent of the 102 families enrolled completed the program. Families appreciated the integration of Zuni culture into the kits and enjoyed completing the activities together. They also reported spending more quality time together, becoming closer and communicating more.
One participant described the benefit as: “…being together as a family and just having more conversations. We show even more affection, like giving hugs and saying “I love you.” Families also said they continued to use the activities and created more family routines, such as family home evenings and putting cell phones away during family times such as dinner.
Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, Division of Prevention and Health Promotion – Know Ur Vape
(Substance Use Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Services Grant Recipient Exclusion)
In 2022, the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) Directorate of Prevention and Health Promotion worked with the Connecticut Clearinghouse and the Connecticut Division of Tobacco Enforcement to develop a vaping prevention campaign.
Started in 2023, Meet Ur Vape leverages the power of social media influencers and social media’s trend for “bumpy” videos to reach youth and young adults. The campaign seeks to prevent the initiation of vaping among teenagers and young adults and to encourage smoking cessation among those who vape.
Each video it begins in a familiar way, then presents a surprising plot twist and ends with a health message and a resource. Each influencer receives one of three themed boxes: sports, beauty or mystery. As they open the box and interact with the contents, their reactions show excitement, confusion, concern and then dissatisfaction. The videos demonstrate the negative effects of vaping, including its addictive and disruptive nature, reduced athletic performance, and harmful effects on skin and physical appearance.
Influencers include University of Connecticut athletes. As part of the campaign, TV personality Nia Moore sat down with Megan Albanese of the Southington STEPS coalition on Instagram Live to discuss her negative experiences with vaping.
In the first three months of the campaign, the videos were viewed 177,656 times on social media, with 18,905 likes and 776 comments. On TikTok, the videos received 113,904 views and on Instagram, one post received 24,600 views. The campaign appeared on the Drug Enforcement Administration Just think twice website and the CADCA website.
West Virginia Departments of Health and Human Services – Overdose Prevention and Treatment
(First Responders – Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act grantee, FY 2022)
The Police and Peers Initiative in Fayette, Kanawha, Monongalia, Nicholas and Preston Counties West Virginia places Peer Rehabilitation Support Specialists (PRSS) with law enforcement to enhance care for people in crisis. The initiative created partnerships with local rapid response teams, law enforcement assistance teams and others in the community.
PRSS provides opioid reversal, case management and motivational interviewing services. connection to addiction treatment, social services, support programs; and individualized action plans based on the individual’s self-identified needs. This improves the quality of care and services and reduces the burden on law enforcement officers (who can then focus on public safety).
As of 2022, the program has connected 120 people to treatment and 110 to psychosocial support services (housing, clothing, basic needs, employment, etc.) as well as 262 naloxone kits and 780 fentanyl strips.
At the start of the initiative, a Fayette County Sheriff’s Deputy contacted a PRSS regarding an overdose incident. PRSS met with the individual, who chose to enroll in an opioid use disorder outpatient program. This person has now been in recovery for over eight months, got a job, got his driver’s license reinstated and bought a vehicle.
During a call to the Oak Hill Police Department, a PRSS de-escalated a disturbance. The peer connected three people to treatment—all completed treatment—and one person was reunited with his children while continuing his recovery.
With the Kingwood Police Department (beginning in April 2024), PRSS activities include working with the municipal court, training the fire department in the administration of naloxone, participating in walks, participating in coalition meetings, and developing a road approach plan.
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation – Walking in 2 Worlds
Mayetta, Kansas
(Tribal Behavioral Health Fellowship Awardee)
Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation hosted a two-day workshop to help human service professionals support the Native Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (2SLGBTQ) population. The Walking in 2 Worlds event educated professionals and community members about the struggles and complexities of 2SLGBTQ adults and youth across India.
Issues for these individuals include isolation. homelessness; job insecurity; racism; stigma; and increased risks of substance use, substance use disorders, overdose, violence, suicide, and victimization of human trafficking. Many cases of violence and human trafficking go unreported, due to the multiple (and intersecting) barriers this population faces and the lack of support services tailored to their unique needs.
The workshop benefited from speakers who shared personal stories, documentary films, and technical assistance from SAMHSA’s Native Connections training and technical assistance.
Resources for telling your prevention story
Prevention has never been more important. As a nation, we continue to face significant substance use and mental health challenges, especially among youth and young adults. Prevention works and helps us overcome these challenges so that youth, families and communities can thrive.
Prevention Month is a key opportunity to raise the national debate and highlight the positive effects of prevention in communities across the country. Here are ideas and resources for telling your prevention story.
To tell your story during Prevention Month:
- Download the Substance Abuse Prevention Month toolkit — which includes social media messages, graphics, an email signature graphic, virtual meeting background and resources.
- Share your #MyPreventionStory on social media.
To participate year-round:
To apply the science of prevention:
In determining which grantees to highlight for this blog, SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Prevention staff (including government project staff) reviewed CSAP’s prevention portfolio to identify grantees that represent the breadth of the prevention portfolio and will reflect : diversity in the population served or the focus population (e.g. age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, social context of the family or individual), geographic diversity of programs (e.g. rural, urban and regional), outcome of focus (e.g., downstream prevention or prevention of a downstream effect such as overdose), and diversity in prevention strategies implemented (e.g., social media and public messaging, naloxone distribution and education, individual programs, family programs) .
