Goal:

By using various strategies that include the Community-Based Process and Prevention Education the grant aims to impact Community attitudes & beliefs favorable to youth alcohol use and non-medical use of prescription drugs.  Prevention education will focus on families who may lack parenting skills & practice in developing, discussing, and enforcing family policies on substance abuse, specifically RX drugs, and alcohol.

Strategy Description:

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA, 2017) has identified six strategies that can help shape your prevention plans: information dissemination, prevention education, positive alternatives, environmental strategies, community-based processes, and identification of problems and referral to services. According to SAMHSA’s Focus on Prevention, (2017) community-based processes strengthen resources such as community coalitions to prevent substance use and misuse. Organizing, planning, and networking are included in this strategy to increase the community’s ability to deliver effective prevention and treatment services.

Level of Change:

Programs

Primary Focus Area:

Behavioral Health: including Substance Abuse and Mental Health

Data Category Tag:

GCHD Health Education and Outreach

Strategic Planning Alignment:

Education

Estimated Implementation Date:

2024-07-01

Estimated Completion Date:

2026-06-30

Estimated Ease of Implementation:

Moderate

Estimated Cost of Implementation:

High

Potential Community Benefit:

Moderate

Health Equity:

Middle School Youth at the Oakland After School Program have been identified as having socioeconomic circumstances that lead to disparities in the use of all drug substances and are at a higher risk for intergenerational drug use and mental health issues. Comprehensive prevention and education with this disparate health population would include evidence-based prevention programming and intensive training for the after-school staff. Substance use prevention programming will be inclusive and sensitive to the students who attend the after-school program. Yearly, the outcome data that supports the impact statement will be updated to provide trend data once program implementation occurs. Initially, process data will be measured through acquiring and reporting ACEs and other data pertinent to this disparate health population, all received through reports from the after-school directors. The number of students participating at the after-school programs, service delivery dosage, and other process evaluation tools will be created and collected after the evidence-programming is selected and program implementation has started. At the startup of the program, prevention staff will facilitate access to naloxone for children and adolescents at risk of an overdose, as well as their families, and provide information and/or training on how to administer it. Tracking of this data will be immediate.

Research:

Garrett County is the westernmost of the three Maryland counties identified as lying in the Appalachian region. A 2017 study by the Appalachian Regional Commission revealed that Appalachia ranks the highest in health disparities of any region in the nation. All chronic diseases such as, heart disease, diabetes, stroke, cancer, COPD, hypertension, obesity, and substance abuse are found at the highest levels in Appalachia. In addition, mental illness and suicide rates also have the highest occurrences. There are many reasons for high health disparities in the Appalachian region. Social determinants such as: poverty, educational levels, transportation, and lack of insurance or inability to pay for healthcare are many of the contributing factors. Along with these reasons, is many people’s distrust of the healthcare system. The 2021 Youth Risk and Behavioral Survey reveals that Garrett County High School Students substance use is higher than the state across all drug substances. Since 2014, there has been a 7% decrease in prescription drug misuse but use remains steady. There has been a 30% reduction in alcohol use among youth.