Page 18 - Focus on Prevention: Strategies and Programs to Prevent Substance Use

providing positive activities for youth can both be reinforced
by school-based drug education. That combination can Culture—both consciously and
do a better job of preventing substance use than any of
these strategies alone. subconsciously—affects how
Likewise, prevention that blends life skills training people interact with each other
with mentoring and with activities to increase parent and their surroundings.
involvement can be more effective for youths at high
risk for using alcohol and other drugs than life skills
training by itself.

Do Prevention Right: Tips for Success

Whatever prevention strategy you select, a few practical suggestions can help put it to work:
 Engage partners—allied organizations, particularly those with large memberships of the target audience, can fill
gaps and strengthen weak areas of your strategy (see Focus On Community Partners).
 Gain support for your strategy—launch prevention activities in stages and provide training and support to those
who will carry them out.
 Maximize participation of target audiences—offer incentives such as prizes, fun, and food (see Focus On Issues
and the Audiences).
 Reduce barriers—offer transportation, convenient times, and a friendly climate.
 Keep control of all parts of your strategy—look for ways to motivate the people who carry out a strategy. Monitor
activities conducted by partners.
 Give strong doses—intensive activities improve results.
 Deliver prevention activities fully—be sure that all prevention activities are delivered when and as intended.
 Try different versions of a strategy—for example, add booster sessions or media messages and use people from
different professional backgrounds to deliver prevention activities.
 Use long-term approaches—prevention activities are more likely to have an impact if they are reinforced or
extended beyond a single event or brief campaign.
 Maintain support—provide frequent feedback about progress and delivery issues. Attend promptly to obstacles
and resource needs.

 Be flexible—consider tuning your strategy by adding or dropping activities, shifting emphasis, or increasing
prevention doses. Such moves should be guided by careful evaluation (see Focus On Evaluation).

14 Focus On Prevention