Past Events

Assessment and evaluation are both critical components of substance misuse prevention work in community settings. In general, these activities occur at defined, stable, and recurring points in time during evidence-based prevention planning and implementation cycles. But what do you do when internal and/or external factors at the individual, organizational, community, or societal level throw a wrench into the process? This webinar will review the purpose and goals of assessment and evaluation and ways in which these processes might be adapted in response to unplanned events and factors.

In the face of this pandemic, communities are dealing with many challenges, including how to connect with each other while also keeping the community safe. How can we engage our members, stakeholders, and partners in creative ways that allow them to still feel connected to one another and the work? How can we shift our strategies so that we’re meeting the community where they’re at and continuing to put its needs at the forefront? This training will explore community engagement strategies in both online and offline spaces, from meeting platforms to phone trees and flyering. Moreover, the training will touch upon the types of engagement that are accessible for hard-to-reach communities, such as aging adults with limited technology and people whose first language is not English. Participants will also learn how to further their impact and coalition message by utilizing wide-reaching online spaces like Twitter and LinkedIn.

This training focuses on the brain structures and systems involved in addiction, the role of learning in the addiction process, and the critical neurological differences between youth and adults. We will first review typical adolescent brain development and how substances can impact the brain’s reward pathway system, leading to addiction.  We will also discuss the impact of both adverse childhood experiences and mental health challenges on neurodevelopment. 

We will then focus on the disease model of addiction (as defined by the medical community and evidenced by research), and the role that key regions of the brain play in the development of substance use disorders. We will discuss what takes place at the synaptic cleft when neurons are impacted by substances, and how this changes brain functioning in both the short-term and long-term.  Finally, we will review the implications of the neurobiology of addiction for youth and young adults in recovery and discuss ways that we can help support their recovery over time.

This training is aimed towards anyone working with youth and young adults; prior knowledge is not required.

Join us for this interactive webinar on the importance of advocating for policies and regulations that improve substance misuse outcomes in your communities. This webinar will provide an overview of the difference between advocacy and lobbying, current research on policies and regulations that are often adopted with little public health input, and what tools are available to prevention practitioners to ensure they are providing a voice in the regulatory process. The webinar will conclude with a real-life example of an advocacy campaign that was successful in creating local policy change in a community in Arizona.

This free webinar will review the epidemiology of adolescent substance. We will discuss the substances most often used by youth, look at trends in youth substance use over time, and discuss the protective role of family and positive social supports.

Cognitive neuroscience, where psychology meets biology, has enabled us to clarify some of the biological bases for substance use and other addictive disorders. This workshop will examine connections between the brain changes and psychological/emotional/behavioral components of addictive disorders. The progression of these disorders will be discussed along with their increasing resistance to change and the implications for treatment.

THIS IS HAS BEEN SPLIT INTO TWO DAYS -YOU MUST ATTEND BOTH DAYS TO RECEIVE CREDITS.

Cognitive neuroscience, where psychology meets biology, has enabled us to clarify some of the biological bases for substance use and other addictive disorders. This workshop will examine connections between the brain changes and psychological/emotional/behavioral components of addictive disorders. The progression of these disorders will be discussed along with their increasing resistance to change and the implications for treatment.

THIS IS HAS BEEN SPLIT INTO TWO DAYS - YOU MUST ATTEND BOTH DAYS TO RECEIVE CREDITS.

In the third and final webinar in this series, the focus was on sending our stories out to do work in the world. Building on all of the things that we have been thinking about so far (and adding just a few more tools to the toolkit), we considered how all the tools of framing come together to foster a sense of efficacy. Participants got a chance to do a little bit of writing, and then the opportunity to give and receive some listening. It ended by committing to concrete ways of supporting one another in amplifying and elevating our stories, equipped with a theory of change about how stories change narratives.

The webinar recording can be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/427881036
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