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Category Archives: Prevention News

24 Sep

Good advice includes ‘give compliments’

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URBANA, OH – The LifeSkills Training team is giving Indian Lake Elementary students some complimentary advice to help them with their peers. Life Skills compliments

Nikki Trout and Diane Mouser speak to third grade students in the fall and fourth graders in the spring about good decision-making and consequences, self-esteem, dealing with stress, the dangers of tobacco, drugs and alcohol and other valuable behaviors.

In this first of five fall sessions, the duo focused on positive self-esteem. They formed a “compliment line” and encouraged students to think of character, not clothing, compliments to offer each other.

“I challenge you to give three compliments a day to three different people. I think you’ll find you make a new friend and help everyone feel more confident,” said Nikki Trout.

The LifeSkills Training program visits Indian Lake Schools annually through Trout’s company Nitro Networks. It is funded by a special grant.

Read full article: Compliments abound

19 Sep

Group develops strategy to combat opioids, prescription drug abuse

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‘Coalition with a plan’

By Christopher Braunschweig Newton Daily News

Hayley Nemmers asked members of the Jasper County Substance Abuse Coalition during its meeting Monday to brainstorm signs of victory over opioid and prescription drug abuse among youths and young adults.

“Imagine the day after the (Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs) grant ends in 2020. We’re just now entering year two and we have about three years to work on all of these strategies,” Nemmers said of the county’s inclusion in the program. “What does victory look like?”

She transcribed the group’s responses inside a large circle she had hand-drawn onto a dry-erase board in room 105C of the Newton Community School District:

Less ER visits. Fewer suicidal students. Fewer community complaints related to drugs. Open communication. Support network. People trying alternate forms of pain management. Changed perception of (high school) students getting opioids. No denial. Awareness of the issue. No overdose deaths. A lot less scripts written.

The Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs (SPF Rx) grant coordinator soon ran out of room in her “victory circle,” eventually writing a new list to incorporate further idealistic goals. Nemmers’ demonstration not only compiled objectives for the coalition but also illustrated the obstacles Jasper County currently faces combating the expanding “opioids and prescription drug epidemic.”

Prompting group members to work together on the spot during the Monday meeting, Nemmers helped guide the Jasper County Substance Abuse Coalition to develop a well-thought-out strategy to reduce the misuse of prescription drugs for youths aged 12 to 17 and young adults aged 18 to 25.

Local awareness

During the Monday meeting, Newton Police Chief Rob Burdess addressed the coalition made up of local law enforcement from across the county, businesses, healthcare professionals, state and local government officials, religious organizations, media, youth-serving organizations and substance abuse prevention treatment and recovery professionals, among other volunteers.

“A lot of participation needed today so we can kind of figure out a strategy to prepare for the future here in Jasper County,” he said.

When the City of Newton released its biennial Comprehensive Plan survey about a month and a half ago, Burdess added, a common citizen complaint different from previous years’ survey responses was the use of drugs in town. However, the grievances were vague. Burdess also specified Newton residents may not necessarily see drugs or drug use.

“They’re seeing people walking down First Avenue with backpacks and they may not be the most attractive folks in the world in terms of they have old clothes on, maybe look dirty or they may have some actions or behaviors that don’t seem right. And so it may just be that look that people are making assumptions on,” Burdess said. “Obviously, on the enforcement end, we can enforce to the best of our ability and still not solve the problem. So that’s where this type of group comes in.”

County statistics

As a recipient of the SPF Rx grant — described by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) as a program “designed to target the priority issue of prescription drugs misuse” — the Jasper County Substance Abuse Coalition is tasked with completing a “five-step, data driven process.”

Since the coalition already completed Steps 1 and 2, assessing needs and building a capacity, Monday’s meeting marked the beginning of Step 3: engage in a strategic planning process. In time, the group will complete the remaining steps by implementing its strategic plan and then evaluating processes and outcomes.

Nemmers prepared three sets of statistics and posted the findings on poster-sized paper for coalition members to read aloud:

According to Nemmers’ information gathered from the Iowa Youth Survey in 2016, “over (one) in (five) 11th graders in Jasper County reported they had contemplated suicide in the past 12 months.” Year-old data from the Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH) stated “in 2016, there were 51 opioid-related emergency room visits in Jasper County. In 2015, there were 28.” Nemmers cited IDPH once more, informing the group that “Jasper County had 88 prescriptions for opioids per 100 people in 2016. The state of Iowa had 72.8 per 100.”

Nemmers said, “Those were three that really stood out us. Obviously we have a few other things to keep in mind as a county. Most 11th graders reported that they felt it would be very easy to get a prescription opioid from somebody in the community. Not from a doctor. All of these data points are things we are going to keep in mind as we start to imagine what strategies we’re going to start implementing.”

Required strategies

The SPF Rx grant, provided by the Iowa Department of Public health, requires the Jasper County Substance Abuse Coalition to implement two types of strategies.

The first required strategy is Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Guidelines for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain and SAMHSA Toolkit to Prevent Opioid Overdose. This program, split into two parts, would allow the usage of CDC and SAMHSA materials to educate prescribers about the benefits of using a Prescription Monitoring Program and also educate the public — mainly parents or guardians, patients, teachers and community members — about the potential dangers of using prescription drugs other than what is instructed.

“We already have the materials, which is great, (but) we just need to figure out how to disseminate these in a way that makes sense for our community,” Nemmers said. “We would need to figure out how to talk to prescribers and maybe get prescribers engaged in ways they haven’t yet.”

The material cost of the CDC Guidelines and SAMHSA Toolkit strategy is free, but the way in which the information is dispersed — whether it be a billboard, a print ad or radio advertisement, for example — is a variable price. Nemmers said the coalition’s grant has allowed the group to spend approximately $65,000 this year.

The second required strategy is the IDPH Media Campaign to Reduce the Misuse of Prescription Drugs: “Prescription Drugs are Still Drugs.” Primarily carried out by media, the information dissemination campaign created by the SPF Rx grant aims to inform the priority age group of the dangers of missing prescription drugs.

“There is a billboard for it, currently, off the exit as you head to Des Moines … it’s been out there for a little while so you may have seen it,” Nemmers said. “We have posters like this and then brochures. They are Iowa specific. They talk about Iowa’s Prescription Monitoring Program and talk about Iowa stats. Again, materials are free. We get them for free at the (IDPH). It’s just a matter of how we disseminate them.”

Voted strategies

In tandem with the two required strategies, the coalition voted between five other actions; the two with the most votes would be adopted as additional procedures to raise awareness about the dangers of prescription drug abuse.

The first to be introduced was the LifeSkills Training Program to be utilized by health curriculum teachers, school administrators and prevention specialists. According to the information packet distributed among Substance Abuse Coalition members, the program’s objective is to integrate “personal self-management skills, general social skills and drug resistance skills,” as well as inform students to the consequences of substance abuse and misuse.

At a cost of $795, the LifeSkills Training Program requires educators to learn and use proper materials in the classroom and undergo additional training.

“I currently do LifeSkills with eighth graders at Berg Middle School, and so if we chose this strategy we wouldn’t be able to do more eighth grade LifeSkills because EFR’s (Employee & Family Resources) other grants already covers that. But we can do it with high school students with our grant that we currently have. This would be with ninth or 10th graders,” Nemmers said.

The second strategy introduced was the Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14, specifically targeting middle school students and their respective parents or guardians. Designed mainly for high-risk and general population families, the seven-session prevention program“elevates positive parenting skills, children’s social skills and family relationships.” The program approximately costs $1,400 and would cover seven to 10 families for seven weeks and would require three training facilitators with evening availability.

Ultimately, the Jasper County Substance Abuse Coalition almost unanimously voted for the first two strategies.

The Generation Rx program allowed the use of resources to enhance medication safety for high schools, colleges and employers to utilize. The Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) Training program would need a select few law enforcement to take 72 hours of additional training and a seven-night, out-of-state certification to recognize driving impairment “under the influence of drugs other than, or in addition to, alcohol.” The final program was the Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) for healthcare and treatment providers to make use of, increasing the awareness of the SBIRT screening process for early detection and intervention “to decrease non-medical use of prescription drugs.”

Upon selecting the LifeSkills Training Program and the Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14, Nemmers said Iowa State University has a project called Program for Sustainable Pavement Engineering & Research (PROSPER), which is meant to enhance the quality of prevention activities.

“We would have access to all of the PROSPER resources as well, and there are a lot of educational resources,” she said. “It can only be used a support.”

Likewise, if the coalition chose DRE and SBIRT, then the group would be eligible for Project Lazarus, another prevention program.

Refining the plan

Near the end of the meeting, the coalition divided itself into four groups to tackle the four strategies head on. Each group wrote down its launch strategy, resources, coordinator and expected victory, as well as other month-to-month actions.

The Prescription Drugs are Still Drugs program coordinators would like to disseminate its information through newspapers, radio, posters in schools, movie advertisements and social media in hopes to reach more than 50 percent of the target audience, increasing awareness and decreasing use of prescription drugs and opioids.

Members tending to the CDC Guidelines and SAMHSA Toolkit also aimed to spread its information through traditional and social media platforms, in addition to BlitzMailing educational emails and invitations to a big kickoff event. The group also wanted a community presence at events and maintaining a booth at parent-teacher conferences. Their goal is to increase the number of educated providers and awareness in public education.

Supporters of the Strengthening Families Program for Parents and Youth 10-14 would launch its plan by contacting Iowa Department of Human Services, juvenile judges, school counselors and healthcare providers before connecting with PROSPER at Iowa State University by October. Afterward, the group would like to acquire and train volunteers to be facilitators, create an application to recruit families and use donations as incentives. The group would like to review participants sometime after the class has concluded and skills are put into effect.

The LifeSkills Training Program launch would like to identify and use champions to reach out to schools with educational materials and thereby negotiate a memorandum of understanding with schools. Near the end of the current school year, group members would like to find and train its program facilitator before classes start again in August 2019. The goal is to recruit every school in Jasper County.

Read full article: Group develops strategy to combat opioids, prescription drug abuse

17 Sep

Competitive state-wide grant awarded to Prairie du Chien District

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The Prairie du Chien School District is one of 20 schools that received the maximum amount of $75,000 from a highly competitive state-wide grant from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

The Prairie du Chien Healthy Children and Families Project 2018-19 will deliver sustainable mental health services for students and families of the Prairie du Chien School District.

“The grant is just awesome. It’s so exciting. I can’t wait,” said Prairie du Chien School Counselor Adrienne Udelhoven, who helped apply for the non-matching grant.

Key elements of the Prairie du Chien Healthy Children and Families Project include:

1. Collaboration with mental health agencies to provide increased access to mental health treatment via satellite clinic(s) in the Prairie du Chien School District.

2. Consultation by mental health professionals to include screening and referral for students who have mental health related contacts with school personnel.

3. Prevent mental health and substance use by implementing the Botvin Lifeskills Training curriculum for students and parents. www.lifeskillstraining.com.

4. Promote socioecological protective factors by engaging peers and caring adults through the Sources of Strength curriculum. sourcesofstrength.org.

Identified gaps of the school and community include:

1. Lack of screening and referral procedures for mental health.

2. Lack of evidence-based curriculum for preventing substance use.

3. Lack of access to mental health counseling in the community.

4. Lack of socioecological protective factors in the community.

The Department of Public Instruction reported that the grant awardees submitted outstanding grants and will be used as models for future grant applicants. The first year for the grant attracted proposals from 161 applicants, representing 182 school districts and charter schools requesting more than $8 million.

Sixty-four districts and consortiums are sharing $3.25 million in state grant funding to provide school based mental health services. Grants fund activities for the 2018-19 school year and range from just over $11,000 to the grant maximum of $75,000.

“I wanted to cry when I heard we got it. It’s going to be powerful!” said Udelhoven. “We are excited for the Botvin LifeSkills, Sources of Strength and overall community collaboration. We have a valuable plan to impact the community and be a model for the state.”

The Prairie du Chien School District was able to apply for and be awarded the grant due the dedication of Udelhoven, said Superintendent Robert Smudde at a recent school board meeting.

“The mental health grant is absolutely a wonderful thing for our district. As you know, mental health services in rural areas have been very difficult if not impossible to get for people who need it,” said District Administrator Robert Smudde, who noted that School Counselor Adrienne Udelhoven took the opportunity offered by the state and federal government to develop a program that helps the school offer these services through the coordination of Katrina M. Johnson, LLC, Soldiers Grove.

The project manager for the Prairie du Chien program is Katrina Johnson, licensed clinical social worker (LCSW). Deliverables will be provided by Johnson and select area therapists. Udelhoven said because this is her first year with such a program, Johnson will help in getting the program up and running, and also with awareness and fund-raising campaigns to make the program sustainable and able to continue on its own over many years.

“There’s a need for change in the Prairie du Chien School District and in the community,” said Udelhoven. “We need healthier activities for the kids.”

Udelhoven and Johnson said the program will provide prevention services and resiliency services for the children, their families and for the community’s well-being.

“This is a proven, evidence-based program. It works,” said Johnson, who noted the program will help with numerous concerns such as bullying, suicide prevention, substance abuse, skills to alleviate stress and many other issues. “I’m here to support the social, emotional and behavioral needs.”

More Key Elements to the Project

1. There are a total of three counselors in the Prairie du Chien community. These are at Gundersen, Mayo and County Health Services. In addition to few counselors available in the area, there are obstacles for people to access mental health care. Some of the obstacles include transportation, ability for parents to take time off from work for routine appointments, and a stigma about meeting with a counselor. The first goal is to set up a satellite clinic in the schools. The satellite clinic would allow for students to meet with their counselor at school. Parents would need to attend as needed, yet definitely reduce the obstacles described. Rebecca Miller, licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC), private practice therapist in Boscobel, will establish a satellite clinic in the school.

2. The second goal is to increase the screening and supports for students and families to be referred to comprehensive care, such as primary care physician, psychiatry, counseling and other interdisciplinary teams. Prairie du Chien schools has approximately 260 to 310 students who receive supportive emotional counseling from school staff and there are approximately another 120 who receive routine counseling outside of the school. There is a need for supporting the 260 to 310 students who would benefit from routine counseling. Johnson and Udelhoven will be available for meeting with youth and families for education about accessing care as well as screening and providing information about presenting symptoms and emotional needs. Screening and consultation includes providing education to school staff about effective approaches and teacher/classroom modifications to support the needs of the student and families. All parents are encouraged to take advantage of this service even to discuss stress prevention and resiliency in families or begin putting a framework together to incorporate emotional well being and counseling as needed. Some people receive emotional relief with routine counseling and sometimes meeting with a counselor once or a few times helps to validate one’s stressors and support well being.

3. The third goal is to have an evidence-based substance use prevention curriculum in the classroom. This year all of the third, sixth and freshmen classes will be offered a class in Botvin Lifeskills. This curriculum will be taught be Johnson. The students will learn and rehearse skills related to self-esteem, communication, impacts of media and peers, and the effects of substance use. The second part of this goal is providing two separate free workshops just for parents or caring adults which focus on healthy roles of adults regarding prevention skills for substance use and peer pressure. Rebecca Miller, LCPC and Jess Leinberger, LCPC-IT, will be facilitating these workshops. Leinberger also works for Crawford Social Services. The hope is that a group of parents and caring adults will repeat this workshop every semester for the next two years. The dates of the workshop are to be announced. The third component of this goal is approximately seven school employees will receive the training to teach Botvin Lifeskills and Adrienne Udelhoven, LCPC, will attend the national train the trainer workshop, which equips her to teach more staff and community members to facilitate Botvin Lifeskills. The school plans to raise funds to buy the workbooks for the students for the next two years, which would be approximately $4,200 needed by June 2019.

4. The fourth goal is to address the socioecological areas effecting prevention of suicide, bullying and emotional well-being. The highly acclaimed and evidenced based program, Sources of Strength from North Dakota and Colorado, will come to the Prairie du Chien High School. Sources of Strength focuses on eight elements to well being; 1. Positive Friends, 2. Family Support, 3. Mental Health, 4. Medical Access, 5. Mentors, 6. Healthy Activities, 7. Generosity and 8. Spirituality. They will provide a full day training for 65 high school students, Peer Leaders, and another day training for eight Adult Advisors. The individuals will be nominated to take part in these trainings and the participants will be from diverse peer groups and adult groups. Adult Advisors are a group of connected, caring and local adults whose goal is to support, mentor and assist peer leaders in spreading hope, help and strength-based messages. This is an inclusive program and not exclusive, there are opportunities for each student, staff, family and community member to be involved. The Peer Leaders and Adult Advisors will design and implement Campaigns of Strength throughout the year and will meet every two weeks. Sources of Strength costs $5,000 per year. Some schools in Wisconsin are in their fourth year of implementing Sources of Strength and Prairie du Chien is determined to receive community support to sustain this highly acclaimed program for at least the next two years, which would require receiving $10,000 by June 2019.

Read full article: Prairie du Chien District

17 Sep

Experts Outline Strategy to Improve Health Education in Island Schools

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Islandwide collaboration is crucial to improve health education and mental health support at Vineyard public schools, experts from Georgetown University Hospital told school leaders last week.

“We think it’s critical that the curricula be mutually relevant and consistent,” Dr. Matthew Biel of MedStar Georgetown University Hospital said during a presentation last week.

In 2014 and again in 2015 guidance counselors in Island public schools reported rising anxiety and other mental health concerns among their students.

Last year at the request of superintendent of schools Dr. Matthew D’Andrea, Dr. Biel and three other MedStar experts conducted a comprehensive study of Island school wellness programs that included hundreds of interviews and surveys of school staff, students, parents and community members.

The study found that health education and mental health support vary widely among the Island’s five school districts.

Though they acknowledged the distinctive identity of each Island school, the consultants called for universal, consistent health education as a top priority, beginning with the hiring of an all-Island health education coordinator within the next year.

“This is an ambitious first year, but these are things we feel like need to happen,” Dr. Biel said, outlining the recommended five-year plan. “Year one, by the way, starts today,” he said.

The coordinator would be charged with overseeing health and wellness curricula in all schools and potentially with teaching health classes in schools that don’t have a designated health teacher. The researchers said ideally all Island students will enter the high school with comparable health education backgrounds. To standardize curriculum throughout schools, the researchers suggested three educational programs: Botvin LifeSkills, HealthSmart from the nonprofit ETR, and the Michigan Model for Health. They said all three programs were endorsed by the Centers for Disease Control.

“What we’re concerned with is we don’t want you to use a curriculum that’s going to be obsolete in a few years,” said Dr. Jeff Bostic. He said some of the programs are already in use at some schools, while other schools use programs that are not on the list. The team recommended adopting the new curricula in year two.

Read full article: Experts Outline Strategy to Improve Health Education in Island Schools

14 Sep

Adams County Christian School offers LifeSkills Class

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UNION, OH – The Adams County Christian School is excited to offer Botvin LifeSkills Training to high school juniors and seniors in the 2018/2019 school year. This program has been proven to prevent drug use by up to 75%, alcohol use up to 60%, violence up to 50% and tobacco use up to 87% by equipping youth with the tools needed to handle life’s challenges in healthy and productive ways.

Keep an eye out for ACCS juniors and seniors this year, as LifeSkills Training also allows the opportunity for students to become more involved in community initiatives through service projects and overall community engagement. These opportunities aide in promoting healthy lifestyles and wellbeing, while providing valuable experience in local community initiatives.

Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors. This comprehensive and exciting program provides adolescents and young teens with the confidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations.

Developed by Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, a leading prevention expert, Botvin LifeSkills Training is backed by over 30 scientific studies and is recognized as a Model or Exemplary program by an array of government agencies including the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention.

Rather than merely teaching information about the dangers of drug abuse, Botvin LifeSkills Training promotes healthy alternatives to risky behavior through activities designed to:

  • Teach students the necessary skills to resist social (peer) pressures to smoke, drink, and use drugs
  • Help students to develop greater self-esteem and self-confidence
  • Enable students to effectively cope with anxiety
  • Increase their knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance abuse
  • Enhance cognitive and behavioral competency to reduce and prevent a variety of health risk behaviors

Read full article: ACCS offers Life Skills Class

 

12 Sep

It’s National Suicide Prevention Month

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Centennial Mental Health Center works to promote hope, help and strength through prevention services across the lifespan

By Maranda Miller | Centennial Mental Health Center | 09/12/2018 09:29:25 PM MDT

Suicidal thoughts, much like mental health conditions, can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background. In fact, suicide is often the result of an untreated mental health condition. Suicidal thoughts, although common, should not be considered normal and often indicate more serious issues.

Last year, 1,175 Coloradans died by suicide and left behind their friends and family members to navigate the tragedy of loss. In many cases, friends and families affected by a suicide loss (often called “suicide loss survivors”) are left in the dark. Too often the feelings of shame and stigma prevent them from talking openly.

September is National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month — a time to share resources and stories in an effort to shed light on this highly taboo and stigmatized topic. Although this is the nationally designated month, Centennial works every month to reach out to those affected by suicide, raise awareness and connect individuals with suicidal ideation to treatment services.

Over the past several years and with increased grant funding, Centennial Mental Health Center has expanded prevention services in the 10-county region of Northeast Colorado. These services are provided across the lifespan, from school aged children to older adults. The majority of them are offered free of charge, due to braiding of funds from Northeast Colorado Health Department, The Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, among others.

Programs specifically targeting school aged youth focus on suicide and substance use prevention. “More than Sad: Teen Depression Program” helps youth learn to identify depression, which is the leading risk factor for suicide. It encourages them to seek help if they notice the signs of depression in themselves or a friend. An educator and parent version are also available with similar emphasis. “Sources of Strength” uses peer leaders, guided by adult advisors, within the schools to promote protective factors against suicide and other harmful behaviors. To combat substance use, “Botvin LifeSkills Training” is provided to students from fourth through 12th grade over a series of eight weeks.

Centennial’s Prevention Team also offers bereavement materials to individuals who have lost a loved one to suicide.

To learn more about any of these programs or resource, please contact the Prevention Team at 970.522.4549 or prevention@centennialmhc.org.

If you or someone you know is in crisis or you’re worried about someone’s mental health or substance use call 844.493.TALK (8255) or text TALK to 38255 or call 970.522.4392.

Read full article: It’s National Suicide Prevention Month

02 Sep

Fayette County Drug & Alcohol Commission reflects on trends, initiatives amid opioid crisis

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The Fayette County Drug & Alcohol Commission has seen a 9 percent increase in clients, serving 1,436 people during the 2016-17 fiscal year. Officials say that’s a clear indication that more locals who need help are getting it.

“We always say the hardest part of getting here is walking through our door,” said Brian Reese, a treatment supervisor at the commission. “Because of that stigma (of addiction), all the guilt and shame, it’s very difficult for a person to come in. But once they’re here, that’s a great thing.”

The annual report states 371 sixth- and seventh-graders countywide participated in the 18-lesson Botvin LifeSkills Training program designed to prevent adolescent tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use. Other prevention programs include staff members addressing foster parents about prescription drug abuse and various awareness campaigns.

Erica Usher, commission prevention supervisor, touted the importance of evidence-based prevention programming and said when the commission had a much larger staff, it did a majority of prevention programming in schools.

“Now our focus is more on, let us be the experts on how it should be delivered and what programs are good and using data to drive decision-making, and then we can help teachers and other partners, maybe it’s a guidance counselor, so that they deliver that programming under our guidance,” Usher said.

Looking ahead, officials know they’ll have to continue to evolve as the landscape of addiction changes.

Reese recalled when he got into the treatment field 24 years ago, “The only thing you really did to help an opiate addict was tell them to go to a meeting.”

“We have to change with the development of new medications and new therapies,” Reese said.

Read full article: Fayette County Drug & Alcohol Commission

30 Aug

Herren Project aims to give hope to those dealing with addiction

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Prevention News

Coastal Point •

-More than 300 lives were lost to overdose in Delaware in 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Delaware ranks ninth in the country in its overdose death rate.

“It’s pandemic, really,” said Lisa Coldiron, grant manager for the Sussex County Health Coalition, a non-profit organization whose mission is to “engage the entire community in collaborative family-focused effort to improve the health of children, youth and families in Sussex County.”

Seaford High School students spent three days this summer training to be Botvin LifeSkills Training Peer Mentors to Seaford Middle School students for the upcoming school year.

The group is one of many trying to address the public health crisis in Delaware, and it will be hosting the Herren Project — a Project Purple Initiative, founded by former NBA basketball player Chris Herren, who himself once overdosed on heroin — which assists individuals and families struggling with addiction.

“He was talking to a group of high school students, and one young lady raised her hand and said, ‘My friends and I are sober.’ He said you could hear the snickering in the crowd. He said he was so proud of her, that she had the confidence to do that, and she was wearing a purple T-shirt. That’s what prompted him to form this Project Purple,” explained Coldiron.

“He’s made it his mission to empower young people to make wise decisions, to understand that they’re OK just the way they are, help them feel good about themselves and to de-stigmatize addiction and recovery,” said Coldiron. “He’s been on the speaking circuit for a while now. We really felt it was important to get a big name to bring the awareness and create a buzz. We want this to be just the beginning.”

Having overdosed from heroin in 2008, and making it through a drug treatment program, Herren has now been sober for 10 years.

“He really wants to bring awareness to the dangers of prescription drugs. No one wakes up and says, ‘I’m going to be an addict today.’”

Coldiron said she hopes everyone in the community attends the free event, which will conclude with a brief question-and-answer session.

“I’m hoping we’ll have young children, families, students, older folks who would like to hear and have hope… because it’s a message of hope.”

Coldiron said the Herren event is the kickoff for what the coalitions hopes will be a multi-year drug-awareness and -prevention campaign in the county and throughout the state.

“We also have two very unique programs we’re starting that are being looked at as possible national models,” she explained. “School-based mental health collaborative in four districts — Indian River, Cape Henlopen, Woodbridge and Seaford.

“With the help of our funders, we have brought trauma-informed care training for all of the teachers in those districts, suicide-prevention training for the teachers, and a cadre of therapists and counselors in the schools, so when a student comes to a teacher and says, ‘I’m depressed’ or if they’re acting out or if there’s an addiction issue…

“The wait used to be two months long. Now it’s down to two weeks because of this program. That is one piece of the puzzle.”

The second program is Botvin LifeSkills Training, an evidence-based substance abuse- and violence-prevention program used in schools and communities worldwide.

“It was started by a physician. They’ve had a tremendous success rate. It’s specifically for middle-school students. It’s not just around drug-prevention, but it’s also a leadership program. It’s life skills, its making wise choices. It’s acting from informed decisions and not impulse, how to handle anxiety — all of these things,” explained Coldiron.

“What we’re doing that’s uniquely different is we’ve taken Botvin trainers at the University of Delaware and trained in a three-day long retreat 11 selected Seaford High School students. Now that they’ve been trained, they’ll serve as peer trainers in the middle schools, under the direction of and in close touch with the Botvin trainers.”

While those who use the Botvin program do not normally use peer trainers, Coldiron said it looks like a promising pilot program.

“We’re just going on the knowledge that middle-schoolers will listen much quicker to a high school student than they will some of us,” she said. “We’re hoping that will bring another level of prevention help and give these students the ability to stop, think and make wise decisions on their own. You can see this is a huge, robust campaign.”

Read more: Herren project

29 Aug

Tackling Opioid Abuse Through Peer-to-Peer Training

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UD Cooperative Extension trains Seaford students on preventing opioid abuse

Seaford High School students spent three days in August training with University of Delaware faculty and staff to become peer educators and health ambassadors. Their training is part of a new, national initiative dubbed Well Connected Communities — an effort to cultivate wellness across the country. National 4-H Council and the Cooperative Extension System, which includes land grant institutions such as UD, is equipping volunteer leaders to help their neighbors be healthier at every stage of life.

In Delaware, the Sussex County Health Coalition identified Seaford as an innovator community — looking at how health needs of the community can be addressed in new, creative ways. The youth health ambassador and peer educator model is an example of that.

Once trained, the Seaford 11 will deliver Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST), a nationally recognized anti-substance abuse curriculum. Traditionally, Botvin is offered as a provider training model, with Delaware 4-H educators presenting the evidence-based program to adult teachers for presentation in middle school classrooms.

As the first model in the country to use direct peer-to-peer education, everyone involved in the effort is eager to see the results. Pre- and post-tests will be analyzed by Botvin at the national level.

The first day of the Seaford students’ training focused on the Botvin LifeSkills Training Curriculum taught by Delaware 4-H Botvins educator Lindsay Hughes. Botvin’s interactive lessons emphasizes feedback, role playing, mindfulness and specific life skills designed to empower students to resist the pressures that often accompany making a wrong decision regarding violence, tobacco, alcohol or drug abuse. Botvin LST boasts a 75 percent reduction in drug use from their program.

Read full article: Tackling opioid abuse through peer-to-peer training

29 Aug

LifeSkills Training (LST) Prevention Program Makes Economic Sense in the Fight against Opioid Epidemic: LST Can Yield a $45 benefit for every $1 invested

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Media Mentions, Prevention News

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y., Aug. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — If the saying “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is correct, then an ounce of LST is actually worth 45 pounds of cure according to a new report by the Promote Prevent Commission, an interdisciplinary group of leaders in behavioral health, prevention, and public health in Massachusetts. The report, formally titled the Behavioral Health Promotion and Upstream Prevention, serves as a behavioral health roadmap for what works in prevention, how to better fund what’s working, and what can be achieved by funding what’s working.

The Promote Prevent Commission partnered with the Pew-MacArthur Foundation Results First Initiative to help determine which government-funded programs have research evidence of improving outcomes for youth and families. Of the universal prevention programs analyzed, the Botvin LifeSkills Training program had the highest cost-benefit ratio as well as evidence rating. For every dollar invested in the LST program, this study found that communities can reap a benefit of $45 in terms of avoided long-term costs of health care utilization and crime due to substance use disorder, as well as wage loss from disrupted employment.

“Nearly 40 years of rigorous scientific study prove that evidence-based programs can prevent substance abuse and misuse, violence, and other risky behaviors,” said Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, Professor Emeritus at Cornell University’s Weill Medical College and developer of the LifeSkills Training (LST) program. “Investing in programs that are proven to work will ensure that the limited funds available for prevention actually help the people they are intended to help.”

LST is a highly acclaimed, evidence-based substance abuse and violence prevention program that has been used in schools and communities throughout the US and in 39 countries around the world. More than 35 studies published in scientific peer-reviewed journals show that the program is effective, produces lasting results, and can clearly save taxpayers a good deal of money. A study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse found the LST program also lowers opioid misuse.

The Commission released its final report and recommendations in April 2018 and found that despite the evidence, key state agencies are spending less than 1% on prevention. The report highlights that not all prevention programs and practices are created equal, as well as the importance of investing the Commonwealth’s limited resources into prevention programs such as LST that have been proven to work.

About Botvin LifeSkills Training     Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is an evidence-based substance abuse and violence prevention program. LST has been extensively tested and proven to reduce tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug use by as much as 80%. Long-term follow-up studies show that it produces prevention effects that are durable and long-lasting. Visit www.lifeskillstraining.com for more information.