Preventing Youth Opioid Use

Transcription

1 Preventing Youth Opioid Use Effective & Ineffective Strategies Lee Ann Cook, MSS The EPISCenter represents a collaborative partnership between the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), and the Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, College of Health and Human Development, Penn State University. The EPISCenter is funded by PCCD and the PA Department of Human Services. This resource was developed by the EPISCenter through PCCD grant VP-ST

2 Objectives Identify strategies likely to be effective Identify strategies that are likely to be ineffective or harmful Identify key action steps

3 CORE PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE PREVENTION

4 Effective Prevention Strategies Are Data Driven

5 Initiation of Substance Use Data from 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), as reported in Facing Addiction in America: The Surgeon General s Report on Alcohol, Drugs and Health. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2017; Source for cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco: Mean Age at First Substance Use among Past Year Initiates Aged 12 to 49, NSDUH (2015).

6 Action Step One Stop focusing only on Opioids. Youth misuse alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco more than prescription drugs or heroin.

7 Past 30-day Use PA Youth 2016 Alcohol 17.5% 19.0% 37.6% Cigarettes 6.4% 6.4% 14.6% Smokeless 1.3% 6.9% 9.2% Male Marijuana 9.6% 9.0% 20.8% Female 12th Grade Heroin 0.24% 0.11% 0.3% Rx Narcotic 1.7% 2.2% 3.0% 0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0% 40.0%

8 The Pennsylvania Youth Survey How many youth in 2017? 253,566 How many schools in 2017? 973 out of 1,666 eligible schools Only 58%

9 Action Step Two Encourage your school district to participate in the next Pennsylvania Youth Survey in 2019.

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12 PAYS gives us information about where kids get the prescription drugs they misuse.

13 Action Step Three Spread the Word: Use Drop Boxes to Get Rid of Unused Prescription Medications

14 Effective Prevention Strategies Start With a Risk and Protective Factor Approach What predicts problem behaviors like substance abuse? Risk Factors Absence of Protective Factors

15 Effective Programs Target the Origins of Problems Violence Family Conflict Delinquency Teen Pregnancy School Drop-out Substance Abuse Depression/ Anxiety Social Development Strategy; risk factor example

16 What Works in Prevention Improving Knowledge + Beliefs/Attitudes + Skills 1. Learning the facts about problem behaviors; resources for getting help 2. Clarifying norms about prevalence of problem behaviors; changing attitudes about acceptability of problem behaviors 3. Developing competencies, such as assertiveness, managing relationships, coping, etc. The trifecta of prevention!

17 What Works in Prevention Strengths-based approaches Framing in the positive, avoiding a list of don ts, warnings, and weaknesses Identifying existing strengths and competencies and building on them Attend to multiple layers of development Individual, peers, family, school, community Include enough time (weeks/hours) to have impact

18 Examples of Effective Programs Program Strengthening Families Lifeskills Training Project Towards No Drug Abuse Guiding Good Choices Families and Schools Together Activity 7 Family sessions focusing on parenting skills and helping kids resist Peer Pressure 3 C s of effective decision making; Interactive Role Play; Group Conformity Experiment, lessons TND Game; Interactive Role Play; Whole group and small group discussions, 12 lessons 5 Two hour sessions focused on parenting skills, and one session that includes kids focused on resisting peer pressure Family Games; Parent Coaching; Activities for kids, parents, and families, 8-10 weeks 18

19 One BIG advantage of using an EBP- Cost Savings Estimates For every $1 invested in LST and SFP combined prevention approach Penn State s Prosper Project saved the state $1.89 in costs associated with the misuse of prescription opioids. v/news-events/nidanotes/2015/12/life-skillstraining-shields-teensprescription-opioidmisuse

20 Small Group Discussion How are these concepts reflected in the work you are currently involved in?

21 CHARACTERISTICS OF INEFFECTIVE PROGRAMS

22 Ineffective Approaches 1. Rely on emotional appeals, focused on danger or deterrence Horror stories Dramatization of dangerous/harmful effects Gruesome photos or videos Tours of jails; boot camps Research on these approaches consistently shows their inability to prevent substance use. Youth exposed to these approaches have been shown to be MORE likely to use substances. No scientific debate on these because there is no evidence of effectiveness AND there is evidence of harm.

23 Adolescent Brain Development Image from: Steinberg, L., (2013). The influence of neuroscience on US Supreme Court decisions about adolescents criminal culpability. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 14,

24 Ineffective Approaches 2. Utilize infrequent or one time presentations Visiting speakers, one day events 3. Incorporate competitive approaches Poster competitions, lotteries Unlikely to have much impact.

25 Drug Free Action Alliance Resource Why Scare Tactics in Drug Prevention Messaging Don t Work. Order Here: tionalliance.org/scaretactics

26 Small Group Discussion Are any of these practices reflected in the work you are currently involved in? What one step could you take to change this?

27 THANK YOU! The EPISCenter is a collaborative partnership between the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD), the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS), and the Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, College of Health and Human Development, Penn State University. The EPISCenter is funded by DHS and PCCD. This resource was developed by the EPISCenter through PCCD grant VP-ST Towers Building, University Park, PA Phone : (814) EPISCenter@psu.edu