Prevention experts have increasingly been able to determine what works and what doesn't when it comes to addiction prevention, according to the latest issue of Advances, the quarterly newsletter published by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).Researchers have found effective prevention approaches for children, teens, and for specific substances. "Based on reviews of 20 years of prevention program research, we now know that effective programs must have a solid, school-based component that incorporates active learning experiences," said Nancy Kaufman, MS, RWJF vice president.
Such positive learning exercises include practicing peer-refusal skills, working in student-directed teams to investigate what science shows about drug use, and studying marketing campaigns aimed at selling alcohol and tobacco.
"Also important are parental involvement and community policies that discourage drug use, such as clean indoor-air laws, media campaigns, and excise taxes on alcohol and tobacco," said Kaufman. "Good prevention is complex."
Kaufman said that simpler approaches, such as one-time lecture programs or school assemblies, are not effective. "They probably do no harm, but they waste valuable school time and taxpayer money," she said.
A recent study conducted by Social Capital Development Corporation in Albany, N.Y., confirmed that interactive prevention programs are more effective than didactic ones.
Last fall, leading prevention experts met to determine how future programs should be designed in order to maximize effectiveness. Their findings touched on six key points:
- coordinating school-based and community prevention efforts to create an environmental change
- integrating prevention efforts with academic curricula, emphasizing that prevention programs contribute to academic success
- maximizing available resources by coordinating efforts across agencies and disciplines
- developing standard definitions and a common understanding of program goals;
- employing new technologies to reach individuals with prevention messages and disseminate science-based information about the most effective prevention efforts
- increasing funding, training, and support for prevention researchers and practitioners.
"It's clear to us in our prevention work that there are a number of effective programs out there based on standards that meet scientific rigor," said Kate Kraft, RWJF senior program officer. "Our challenge is to translate what we know into large-scale projects."For instance, RWJF is funding a five-year, $13.7 million redesign of the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) program. "If we can help redesign DARE to reflect what we know to be the best prevention science available, we can have a major impact," said Kraft.
Zili Sloboda, senior research associate at the Institute for Health and Social Policy at the University of Akron, Ohio, said the redesigned DARE program would target seventh- and ninth-graders, rather than DARE's previous fifth- and sixth-grade focus.
Sloboda, who is heading up the redesign, said the new program will train DARE police officers to conduct more effective, engaging, interactive classes that encourage students to work out problems in small groups. Previously, DARE covered a wide range of topics in a lecture-style format.
Sloboda said the redesigned DARE program has three major goals: changing normative beliefs, building resistance skills, and heightening perceptionn of risk.
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