|
Great American Smokeout 2023
For over 40 years, the American Cancer Society has hosted the Great American Smokeout. Why is this event still so relevant after so many years? About 34 million American adults still smoke cigarettes, and smoking remains the single largest preventable cause of death and illness in the world. Smoking causes an estimated 480,000 deaths every year, or about 1 in 5 deaths.
While the overall rates of cigarette smoking have declined over the past several decades, from 42% in 1965 to 14% in 2019, the gains have been inconsistent. Some groups smoke more heavily or at higher rates and suffer disproportionately from smoking-related cancer and other diseases. These populations tend to be those who experience inequities in multiple areas of their lives, including those at lower socioeconomic levels, those without college degrees, American Indians/Alaska natives, African American/Black communities, LGBTQ communities, those in the military, those with behavioral health conditions, and others. The American Cancer Society has online resources available for prevention providers to share in the workplace, in healthcare systems, and in the community.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has a website with resources available that are tailored specifically to certain groups to enable everyone to have the best opportunity for success when quitting smoking. These groups include women, veterans, teens, Spanish-speaking communities, and individuals over age 60.
The Great American Smokeout is still much needed--and you can get involved. Share information and resources with those who can utilize them.
|
|
|
Community Assessment
Communities across the country aspire to have a positive and healthy environment for all its citizens, especially youth. To reach those positive outcomes, you first need to understand your issues. A comprehensive community assessment begins with data collection. Consumption data and learning the factors contributing to the problem should be the first step in your assessment. The Illinois Youth Survey provides those data points and is now open for registration. Another equally important assessment step is to conduct an environmental scan. Environmental scanning allows you to observe and document how alcohol presents itself in your community, including through advertising. The APRC has numerous community assessment resources, including an Environmental Scan Toolkit, which we will highlight in a collaborative webinar with Counter Tools. The Environmental Scans for Alcohol Policy Change webinar will be on Wednesday, November 8th, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Central. Counter Tools will share why the point-of-sale matters for alcohol and your community. You can register for the webinar here.
The Alcohol Policy Resource Center can also assist with how to analyze your data, scan your community, and match policy/strategy to assessment findings. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Jody Heavilin.
|  | |
|
Online Training Spotlight:
The newly released The Dynamic Adolescent Brain online self-paced training will increase participants’ knowledge of how the teen brain develops, how adolescent brain development differs throughout various stages, and how adolescent brain development influences adolescent thinking and behavior. The impact of early life trauma and racism is also explored during this training. Participants will examine their beliefs and attitudes about adolescence and how they affect their work with youth. This training also highlights the value of authentically partnering with young people.
Illinois Youth Survey registration is open!
The IYS is a valuable tool for assessing the needs in your community and evaluating the impact of your prevention efforts. Learn more about the IYS and how you can assist with school recruitment by visiting the Illinois Youth Survey website. Additionally, Prevention First’s Promoting the Illinois Youth Survey to Schools online self-paced training can help you build your knowledge and skills to promote the IYS to schools and obtain schools’ commitment to administer the survey. You will also learn strategies for building relationships and overcoming barriers to participation.
More Training Resources
Are you looking for more prevention training opportunities? Check out the training and resources available through the Great Lakes PTTC.
| |
|
Needs Assessment Survey Now Open!
Prevention First’s Youth Prevention Resource Center (YPRC) is conducting a needs assessment survey with individuals and organizations who engage in youth drug & and alcohol prevention and youth leadership development to determine how we can best support the vital work you do every day in your communities across Illinois. Your participation in this survey will provide us with valuable information to guide the creation of our resources, training, webinars, and technical assistance efforts.
At Preventions First's Youth Prevention Resource Center, we apply a holistic approach in all that we do, ensuring that youth voices are represented and respected. We invest significant resources to be responsive to the needs of our youth and support healthy decision-making, supporting both those who work with youth and the youth themselves. The survey can be accessed here.
If you have any questions about this survey or the YPRC, please contact YPRC Administrator Bryant Laiche.
| |
|
Cannabis Derivatives: Delta-8 and other “Lookalikes”
Many communities in Illinois are working on the impact of cannabis derivatives, such as Delta-8 and HHC. These products are either created from hemp plants or derived synthetically and can be found in various retail locations throughout Illinois.
The CPRC provides resources on cannabis derivatives in English and Spanish. We are also available for technical assistance if you are working on this issue in your community, so reach out today!
| |
|
November Harm Reduction Project ECHO Registration Now Open!
Join us on November 27 from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. for our next Harm Reduction ECHO! The topic of this session is “Rural vs. Urban Harm Reduction.”
Prevention First Leadership Center (PFLC) Harm Reduction ECHO focuses on harm reduction issues and community-based strategies to prevent substance use-related overdoses, deaths, or other harmful impacts, including decreasing the stigma surrounding harm reduction. These ECHOs are open to anyone, so please join us!
Each ECHO session includes a 20-minute presentation facilitated by a guest speaker, and the remainder of the session involves case presentation(s) and peer discussion on strategies to overcome the issues presented. Register today here.
Submit a Case Presentation
Case presentations are at the core of the ECHO program. This is an opportunity to engage the community and peers in discussing real-life situations, challenges, or practices. The case presentation form captures information about the "case" you want to address. We’d love to hear from you! If you have any interest in presenting a case, please contact Megan Edmondson to discuss. This is a friendly environment to discuss with a community of your peers. We’d love to talk you through the process and support you in any way.
Click here to submit a case.
Upcoming ECHO dates:
- November 27, 10-11 a.m. CST
- December 18, 10-11 a.m. CST
|
|
|
Positive Youth Development
Positive Youth Development (PYD) is an intentional, prosocial approach that engages youth within their communities, schools, organizations, peer groups, and families in a manner that is productive and constructive; recognizes, utilizes, and enhances young people’s strengths; and promotes positive outcomes for young people by providing opportunities, fostering positive relationships, and furnishing the support needed to build on their leadership strengths.
Culture, diversity, and prior experiences can have a huge impact on positive youth development. Understanding issues that impact youth is critical for those working in programs that directly or indirectly impact youth.
According to youth.gov, youth in the United States represent many different backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles. The issues faced by these youth are also diverse. PYD can assist and benefit the youth service providers and public health programming by identifying diverse circumstances to better understand the needs of youth. Examples of these issues include the following:
Different Types of Transitions During Adolescence:
- Youth transitions can include transitioning from elementary or middle to high school environments, student to employee, foster youth to adult of legal age, resident of juvenile justice facility to reintegrated youth/adult, stable family routine to disrupted living arrangements, and dependence on caregiver/guardian income to taking on more financial responsibility.
Specific Population Challenges:
- Issues that youth who identify as LGBTQIA+ are more likely to experience than heterosexual youth, such as stigma, discrimination, family disapproval, and violence, can place them at a higher risk for behavioral health challenges and complications (e.g., suicidal ideation and substance use).
- Youth with disabilities may face additional challenges while attending school and gaining employment.
- Immigrant and refugee youth are more likely to experience stress due to societal exclusion, poverty, trauma, and separation from family.
- Exposure to violence and trauma while experiencing a transition can have a cumulative effect on increasing physical and mental health risks for youth.
PYD enhances the sense of belonging, creating and strengthening relationships with peers and friends, and identification of one's culture within a community. Increased resiliency and risk reduction can be fostered by utilizing PYD principles and practices with youth and communities of different ethnicities, races, cultures, specific needs with respect to behavior and learning, and sexual orientation.
More information about PYD can be found here, or feel free to reach out to the Reimagine Youth Development Training and Technical Assistance and Support Team.
| |
Self-paced courses and archived webinars
Don't miss out on Prevention First's collection of online courses and archived webinars for professional development at your own convenience.
For Alcohol Policy Resource Center Webinars, visit here for archived webinars.
For Substance Use Prevention Courses & Webinars, visit SUPP Training Events- Online or Archived Webinar on the sidebar.
For Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Webinars, visit their webpage.
For Cannabis Policy Resource Center webinars, visit here for archived webinars.
For SUPR Treatment & Recovery Webinars, visit SUPR Training Events- Archived Webinar on the sidebar.
For Youth Prevention Resource Center webinars, visit here for archived webinars.
For Reimagine Youth Development Training and Technical Assistance resources, visit their webpage here.
| | | | |
