What Is Prevention?
Gain a deeper understanding of the proactive measures we employ to counteract substance abuse.
Discover the balance between risk and protective factors and their profound impact on youth, guiding them towards healthier and more positive life choices.
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Going Up River
Susan and Fernando are fishing on a river when they see a man in the water! He is struggling to stay afloat, so Fernando drops his fishing pole and pulls the man out of the water. The man is sputtering and cold, and Susan calls an ambulance to take the person to a hospital. Susan and Fernando go back to fishing. Pretty soon they look up river again and see a woman in the water! She is struggling, too, so Fernando drops his fishing pole again and pulls the woman out of the water. Susan calls another ambulance to take her to a hospital.
The friends return to fishing when they look up river and see a whole group of people in the water! They are struggling to stay afloat. Fernando drops his fishing pole and starts hauling people out of the water. He looks up and sees Susan walking away. He calls to her to come help pull these people out of the river, and Susan responds that she is going up river to find out why all the people are ending up in the water.
Think and Act Upstream
Prevention services and strategies “go up river” to find out what contributes to people abusing substances and needing treatment services. In this analogy, we want to know exactly what is causing people to fall into this river. Perhaps Susan goes upstream and finds a fence built to keep people away from the river has fallen and needs to be rebuilt. Or, Susan finds a slippery slope running into the river and can plant vegetation on the slope to prevent people from falling into the river. In prevention work, we want to find out what is causing youth to abuse substances in our community, and then we work to reduce those risks and to build protection against substance abuse.
Risk & Protective Factors:
Research has shown there are a number of risk factors that increase the chances of adolescents developing health and behavior problems. Equally important is the evidence that certain protective factors can help shield youngsters from problems. If we can reduce risks while increasing protection throughout the course of young people’s development, we can prevent these problems and promote healthy, pro-social growth.
Risk factors are characteristics at the biological, psychological, family, community, or cultural level that precede and are associated with a higher likelihood of negative outcomes.
Protective factors are characteristics associated with a lower likelihood of negative outcomes or that reduce a risk factor’s impact.
Evidence Based Prevention:
*Prevention is a vitally important investment in a community and its people. Substance misuse costs the United States more than $740 billion annually in costs related to crime, lost work productivity, and health care, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
While the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration that investments in prevention can bring as high a return on investment as $18 per $1 spent, precious few resources are available for these kinds of life-saving prevention services.
Clarkston EPIC uses prevention programs and strategies that research has proven are effective at changing behaviors and improving public health. These programs and strategies are called “evidence-based practices,” and using them makes the most of any investment in prevention and does the most good for those we serve.
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