February Monthly Newsletter
Culturally Relevant Prevention in African American Communities
In this Issue:

  • Culturally Relevant Prevention in African American Communities
  • The Cultural Adaptation Continuum
  • Additional Resources
  • What's Happening Around the Region?
  • Epi Corner: Enhancing Cultural Competency to Reduce Health Disparities

This month we join others throughout the nation to recognize and pay tribute to the lives of generations and future African Americans who have made an impact in the world. We recognize and appreciate those of you making an impact in your communities and states to promote culturally relevant substance misuse prevention.

The resources provided below highlight many of the risk and protective factors that exist and can be considered as you work to decrease the substance misuse disparities that exist in black communities. Various articles, books, videos and websites are listed to get you started.

Please contact the South Southwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center if you would like further information or training to assist you with your efforts.

Learn more about black history month here .
The Cultural Adaptation Continuum
African Americans, like other marginalized people groups, benefit from culturally responsive services. Providing culturally responsive services may require you to adapt your organization’s programs and practices to maximize the impact of your efforts. The ultimate goal of cultural adaptation is to ensure that prevention strategies are effective in achieving the intended behavioral outcomes in individual participants and reducing the community level burden of substance use. However, cultural adaptations to evidence-based strategies must also ensure that the core elements of those strategies remain intact during the implementation process. The decision of whether or not to adapt should be based on the following:

  • The extent to which adaptations will eliminate or reduce cultural barriers that may inhibit recruitment, retention and or the effectiveness of the proposed strategy.
  • The feasibility of making the necessary adjustments to the program based on organizational capacity, budgetary, time and manpower constraints.
  • The extent to which proposed adjustments may compromise core elements of the evidence-based strategy.

Okamoto et al. (2014) proposed a conceptual model of cultural adaptation viewed on a continuum ranging from no adaptation to adaptations which are extensive and culturally grounded to reflect the worldview of the intended participants (Table 1) . [1] Engaging community stakeholders and cultural brokers early in the process will help identify program elements which might need modification, reviewing the modified program or strategy and materials prior to roll out and crafting culturally appropriate evaluation methods and instruments.

Table 1 Cultural Adaptation Continuum
[1] Okamoto SK, Kulis D Marsiglia FF, Holleran-Steiker LK, Dustman P. (2014). A Continuum of Approaches Toward Developing Culturally Focused Prevention Interventions: From Adaptation to Grounding.  Journal of Primary Prevention 35, pg. 103-112
Additional Resources
Cultural Competency - The Office of Minority Health

OMH launched of a new, free and accredited e-learning program: Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals. The program, available via OMH's Think Cultural Health website, is designed to develop behavioral health providers'...

Read more
www.minorityhealth.hhs.gov
The Strong African American Families Program Improves...

The Strong African American Families Program (SAAF), developed by Dr. Gene Brody and his team at the University of Georgia, is a prevention program targeted at 10- to 14-year-old rural African American youths and their families.

Read more
www.drugabuse.gov
Building Health Equity and Inclusion
Prevention Technology Transfer Center Network
This resource list was developed by the PTTC Culturally & Linguistically Appropriate Practices Work Group, and represents a compilation of resources produced by the PTTC Network to help individuals understand the impact of culture and identity in prevention efforts. All resources are free to access. This list is by no means exhaustive, and will be updated periodically to ensure it has the most relevant resources. 
 
Healthy People 2020 Health Disparities Data Widget
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, National Center for Health Statistics and the Office of Minority Health
The Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (ODPHP), National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the Office of Minority Health (OMH) are pleased to announce the release of a new HealthyPeople.gov data search function. The Health Disparities widget is a new way for you to access this health disparities information.
 
The new widget provides an easy way to find health disparities data related to the Healthy People 2020 objectives for the Leading Health Indicators (LHIs). LHIs are critical health issues that when addressed will help reduce the leading causes of death and preventable illnesses.

It’s easy to embed the widget on your site and give your stakeholders easy access to the latest available disparities data. Once you’ve added the widget, there’s no technical maintenance required. The content will update automatically with the latest available data.

The widget provides charts and graphs of disparities data at your fingertips. Use the widget to browse data by:
  • Disparity type—including disability, education, income, location, race and ethnicity, and sex)
  • Leading Health Indicator

Explore, use and share the widget to help inform issues related to health equity.

Online Museum of African American Addictions
The purpose of this website is to serve as a single location where individuals who are interested in information about addictions, treatment, and recovery among African Americans can be found. The site contains historical data, webinar training, scholarly articles, educational videos, music and DVDs.

Substance Use Disorders in African American Communities: Prevention, Treatment and Recovery edited by Mark Sanders
This book is dedicated to the prevention, treatment, and recovery of African Americans with substance use disorders. African Americans are disproportionately represented in the addictions, criminal justice, and child welfare systems. It is clear that, when their culturally specific needs are not met, they are vulnerable to continuous relapse and the revolving door syndrome. There has been little written that focuses exclusively on prevention, treatment, and recovery among African Americans. This book was written to fill this gap. It is an important contribution to the field of behavioral health, providing a much-needed treasure trove of important knowledge from specialists, including physicians, psychologists, educators, social workers, addictions counselors, public health specialists, researchers, the clergy, as well as individuals in recovery. This volume adds significantly to the knowledge base of practitioners and researchers whose work focuses on prevention, treatment, and recovery in African American communities. The book was originally published as a special issue of Alcoholism Treatment Quarterly . (click on the cover of the book for link to purchase on amazon)

Alcohol and African American Children
The Dialogue: The Central East eNewsletter, Feb 2019
Collaborating TTC: Central East PTTC
Publication Date: February 5, 2019
The February 2019 issue of The Dialogue features segments including African American children of parents with alcohol use disorder and implementing culturally competent prevention programs for African Americans.
What's Happening Around the Region?
Prevention Technology Transfer Center, Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training (SAPST) Trainer Learning Community and Materials Portal

The PTTC Network is pleased to announce the launch of a new online learning community specifically for SAPST Trainers and Training Coordinators who arrange for the delivery of the SAPST four-day face-to-face training by engaging SAPST trainers and/or preparing material and logistics. Inside this virtual community, one will have access to the updated SAPST materials, upcoming SAPST and SAPST ToT events, and training tips from SAPST Master Trainers. Individuals will be able to connect with other SAPST Trainers from across the U.S. and share ideas and resources.

To register for the PTTC SAPST Trainer Learning Community and Materials Portal, visit www.tinyurl.com/SAPSTLearningCommunity .

For more information about how the PTTC Network supports the SAPST please visit: https://pttcnetwork.org/centers/global-pttc/network-sapst .
NEW Self-guided Learning Courses
 
Informing Prevention: Adolescent 6-part Webinar series
  • Informing Prevention: Understanding Adolescent Development (1 of 6)
  • Informing Prevention: Effectively Engaging Adolescents in Interventions (Part 2 of 6)
  • Informing Prevention: Effective Use of Epidemiological Data (Part 3 of 6)
  • Informing Prevention: Effectively7 Using Technology for School-Based Prevention (Part 4 of 6)
  • Informing Prevention: The Effects of Drug Use on Adolescent Brain Development (Part 5 of 6)
  • Informing Prevention: Vaping Among Adolescents (Part 6 of 6)
Today’s Marijuana: stronger, More Edibles, Confusing Information about Driving

Early Childhood Development: Toxic Stress and adverse Childhood Experiences
 
Online Courses
All online courses can be accessed at: healtheknowledge.org/courses
 
If you are new to HealtheKnowledge, please log in or set up an account here: healtheknowledge.org/new-user
























2020 PFS Academy: Making the Steps of the Strategic Prevention Framework Work for You.

Each webinar will begin at 8:00 PT/9:00 MT/10:00 CT/11:00 ET

SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) provides practitioners with comprehensive guidance to more effectively address substance misuse and related behavioral health problems in their communities. This seven-part webinar series will explore this five-step, data-driven process to identify genuine prevention needs, build capacity and plans to address those needs, implement effective programs and interventions, and evaluate and continually improve prevention efforts.

At each step of the SPF, and in separate sessions, practitioners will learn to incorporate the guiding principles of cultural competence and sustainability to help support the implementation of SAMHSA’s Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). 

Certificates for prevention hours will be available upon registration and completion of the webinar.


 
  • March 24, Part 2: Capacity Building, will guide participants through the process of improving community readiness and increasing the resources available to address prevention efforts.
 
 
  • May 19, Part 4: Implementation, will provide participants with the tools needed to implement prevention programs, policies, and practices with fidelity and effectiveness.
 
  • June 23, Part 5: Evaluation, will offer helpful guides for the collection and analysis of prevention strategies and teach participants how to modify programming for future enhanced results.
 
  • July 21, Part 6: Sustainability, will provide participants with the elements of a sustainable prevention program and how to integrate sustainability into each step of the SPF.
 
Native American Substance Abuse Prevention Skills Training
National American Indian & Alaska Native PTTC

Roseville, CA
February 24, 2020
The goal is to train Native American and Alaska Native substance abuse prevention practitioners and those working in Native American and Alaska Native communities in related disciplines to develop the knowledge and skills needed to address substance use prevention and provide effective prevention services to their communities using the strategic prevention framework. This training requires completion of an online portion (5 hours) prior to attending the four-day face-to-face training.
Epi Corner

Iris Smith, Ph.D., M.P.H.
South Southwest Prevention Technology Transfer Center
Enhancing Cultural Competency to Reduce Health Disparities
 
Research on health disparities has noted the significant impact of culture in shaping perceptions of health and healthcare systems generally. Enhancing both individual and organizational cultural competency can often increase the effectiveness of prevention strategies in communities that may be under served or excessively burdened by the consequences of substance misuse, by improving access, recruitment, engagement, and retention of programs and services. Addressing the root causes of substance abuse and other behavioral health disorders requires an understanding of the complex interactions between the individual and her/his environment that may influence their ability and/or willingness to engage in and benefit from prevention services. Culturally competent organizations have a greater capacity to identify and address the needs of diverse populations and, as a result a greater potential for facilitating individual and system level change. The National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) are an excellent resource for reducing health disparities by building organizational competency. [1] Cultural competency also lies at the core of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). Each of the 5 steps of the SPF provide opportunities for building organizational capacity to reduce health disparities by enhancing cultural competency using the CLAS standards as a guide.

Using the SPF Process to Reduce Behavioral Health Disparities
Assessment:  
  • Identify disparities in use, consequences, risk and protective factors.
  • Engage the community of interest and explore the root causes for the disparities observed.
Capacity : 
  • Build the capacity to address root causes and related contextual conditions.
  • Enlist the assistance of cultural brokers to build organizational capacity.
  • Use the CLAS Standards as a guide to enhance organizational cultural competency
Planning
  • Identify evidence-based strategies that “fit” the community conditions and culture.
  • Determine if cultural adaptations for the selected programs/strategies is needed.
  • Pilot test the adapted program with a group of the intended participants.
Implementation
  • Track recruitment, attendance/exposure, and retention to ensure that priority populations are being reached, participate, and are retained in the program.
Evaluation
  • Monitor and document the implementation process to ensure fidelity to the core elements of the evidence-based program/strategy.
  • Document challenges and modifications made during implementation.
  • Monitor and document the implementation of CLAS standards
  • Measure outcomes to determine whether prevention targets have been reached for priority populations and the impact on community level indicators.
 
Resources on Cultural Competency and Health Disparities
 
Closing the Gap in a Generation: Health Equity Through Action on the Social Determinants of Health
World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Social Determinants of Health
This 2008 report details the rationale for the global movement toward health equity and the Commission’s approach to finding evidence and making recommendations for actions to promote health equity.
 
National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR) – Health Disparities
U.S. National Library of Medicine
This website offers resources on news, data, tools, and statistics related to health disparities, as well as links to guidelines, journals, and other publications and information about key organizations and programs that address health disparities.
 
Cultural Competence and Self-Awareness Assessments
The National Center for Cultural Competence (NCCC) at Georgetown University
This website provides organizations and their personnel tools to assess individual and collective progress in becoming increasingly culturally competent over time. It offers a rationale for the organizational self-assessment process and describes how such a process can support the development of short-term and long-term organizational goals, measurable objectives, and strategic plans to enhance cultural competence.
 
Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities
The Center for Medicare Advocacy
This website answers the question, “what are heath disparities?” and describes health disparities as a concept. It also provides information about the harmful effects of health disparities on individuals and communities, including society’s financial burden from unaddressed health disparities.
 
Specific Populations and Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
This resource highlights the ways in which certain population groups are more vulnerable than others regarding prescription drug misuse and abuse.
 
Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities among Communities of Color Compared to Non-Hispanic Whites
Family USA
This website features a series of infographics detailing racial and ethnic health disparities experienced by African Americans, Latinos, American Indian & Alaska Natives, and Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders compared with Non-Hispanic Whites.
 
Resource Articles
 
Liddell J & Burnette CE (2017). Culturally Informed Interventions for Substance Abuse Among Indigenous Youth in the United States.  Journal of Evidence Informed Social Work, 14 (5), pg. 329-359
 
Whitbeck LB; Walls ML & Welch ML (2012) Substance Abuse Prevention in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 38 (5), pg.428-435
Okamoto SK, Kulis D Marsiglia FF, Holleran-Steiker LK, Dustman P. (2014). A Continuum of Approaches Toward Developing Culturally Focused Prevention Interventions: From Adaptation to Grounding.  Journal of Primary Prevention 35 , pg. 103-112
 
[1] Office of Minority Health, Dept. of Health and Human Services (2013) National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Healthcare: A Blueprint for Advancing and Sustaining CLAS Policy and Practice.