Resource Library

The School Health Index (SHI) Self-Assessment and Planning Guide is an online self-evaluation and planning tool for schools. The SHI is built on CDC’s research-based guidelines for school health programs that identify the policies and practices most likely to be effective in reducing youth health risk behaviors. The SHI is easy to use and is completely confidential.

The National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives (NPSC) will host a congressional briefing on deploying prevention strategies to improve racial equity, particularly in issue areas such as health and education.  Research and experience provide guidance about what works to reduce racial disparities and improve health outcomes for all Americans.  Despite the existence of strategies shown to reduce inequities and foster equitable practices, translating that knowledge into effective policies has lagged behind the science.  Speakers in this briefing will present evidence-based prevention policies that reduce the conditions that perpetuate inequities and strengthen factors that protect against them.

Screen4Success, a new, user-friendly tool from SAMHSA’s “Talk. They Hear You.”® campaign designed to help parents and caregivers better understand the health, wellness, and wellbeing of their children and find resources to address their needs.

Substance misuse and related behavioral health problems such as injury, addiction, and overdose are pressing personal and public health concerns. To successfully address these problems in states, tribes, jurisdictions, and communities, prevention planners need information about the effectiveness of available programs and practices. They also need to know how to determine which options have the greatest potential to work well in their unique settings and how to proceed if no viable options are available. To help meet these needs, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has developed this guidance document, Selecting Best-Fit Programs and Practices: Guidance for Substance Misuse Prevention Practitioners. This resource places the selection of programs and practices within the broader context of evidence-based prevention.

This resource outlines six strategies for effectively communicating about adolescent development.

Health Equity involves understanding terms and definitions in the changing landscape of Mental Health and Substance Use Challenges. Part of assessing for equity requires an understanding of safe and secure (Physical, Social, Psychological and Moral) environments for staff and those we serve. This includes exploring the concepts of Equity, Cultural Humility, as well as climate assessments and safe and secure environment surveys for staff and team discussions regarding creating safe space for open, honest, dialogue regarding equity issues/concerns. At the heart of this work is understanding Person-Driven Services and how to better involve communities of Color and other marginalized identities.

Featured Speakers:
Dr. Ami Roeschlein, DSW, MA, LMFT
Aaron Williams, MA

The Praxis Project uses a social determinants of health (SDOH) framework to guide our work. Many traditional SDOH frameworks lack the explicit naming of systems of oppression that cause disparities in health determinants. In an effort to incorporate these systems of oppression and to highlight the root causes of these determinants from a justice and community power perspective, The Praxis Project created this visual representation. This entire framework—from the root causes, to the social determinants of health, to the subsequent health outcomes—is Praxis’ Social Determinants of Health Equity framework.

Information on conducting a social marketing effort (promoting awareness, interest, and behavior change), and planning for long-term sustainability.

Developed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in partnership with Native American communities in Massachusetts, this booklet provides a series of stories and poems explores the ways family members can help prevent youth drinking and other drug use. The images from Native American communities are interwoven with the best we know about the prevention of substance use. It includes guidance for positive discussion, as well as referral resources for counseling for youth and adults if needed.

In this webinar, you will learn about a new concept in prevention programming - the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) - which involves strategic planning and implementation of evidence-based interventions in the local community. Dr. Augie Diana, Health Scientist Administrator, formerly of SAMHSA, will walk us through the steps of implementation, program evaluations and the results, ideas on incorporation in academic prevention courses, and implications for local practitioners.

This resource provides information on what it means to organize for community change and effective strategies, as well as an overview on starting and maintaining a coalition with accompanying tools and examples.

A history of unethical research and deficit-based paradigms have contributed to profound mistrust of research among Native Americans, serving as an important call to action. Lack of cultural safety in research with Native Americans limits integration of cultural and contextual knowledge that is valuable for understanding challenges and making progress toward sustainable change. This paper aims identify strategies for promoting cultural safety, accountability, and sustainability in research with Native American communities.

As part of a strategic planning process, practitioners need to select prevention strategies or interventions that address those risk and protective factors associated with their prioritized substance-related problem(s). This document summarizes evaluations of prevention strategies and interventions associated with binge or heavy episodic drinking, as identified in the prevention research literature. It also provides recommendations for using the prevention research to inform strategy selection.

The National Prevention Science Coalition to Improve Lives is pleased to provide this 40-page booklet of factsheets documenting evidence for structural racism across societal systems. Experts from a wide range of fields present data on the negative impacts of racist practices on the health and well-being of children and families, and recommend public policies to weed it out.

This guidance document is a resource for municipalities, individuals, organizations, community coalitions, and other groups who are implementing universal prevention efforts aimed at preventing and reducing underage drinking and other drug use in Massachusetts, including those whose efforts are funded by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) Bureau of Substance Abuse Services (BSAS) and, more specifically, grantees of the Massachusetts Substance Abuse Prevention Collaborative (SAPC) grant program.