Community Readiness

During Spring 2020, Helping Services for Youth & Families used the Tri-Ethnic Readiness Model to determine the community's readiness to address priority issues related to problem gambling, prescription drug misuse, youth marijuana use, youth tobacco use, and adult binge drinking.

Thirty phone surveys were conducted for each priority area and include a wide variety of sectors across the community. The Denial/Resistance stage means that individuals believe this issue is not a concern in their community or they think it can't or shouldn't be addressed. In this stage, community members have misconceptions or incorrect knowledge about current efforts.

The Vague Awareness stage means that some community members are concerned or have heard about some efforts to address it. Local leaders may be concerned but have no immediate plans to address it.

More awareness of these substance use issues needs to be raised among community members in Winneshiek County. By bringing more attention to these issues, we can work together to change the social norms in our county and reduce substance abuse!