D.R.E.A.M. - What is Prevention?

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What Is Prevention

Prevention is Primary

Primary prevention is trying to stop something from happening in the first place. Primary prevention activities are directed at the general population and attempt to stop substance use before it occurs. All community members have access to and may benefit from these services. Prevention uses upstream thinking to make community-wide changes that protect people early on. Prevention work reduces risk factors contributing to youth substance use/misuse while increasing factors known to protect youth and build resilience. It also focuses on influencing public policies to create healthy environments around people so they are not exposed to situations or influences that might harm their well-being.

Prevention activities work to educate and support individuals and communities to prevent the use and misuse of drugs and the development of substance use disorders. Substance use and mental disorders can make daily activities difficult and impair a person’s ability to work, interact with family, and fulfill other major life functions. Mental and substance use disorders are among the top conditions that cause disability in the United States. Preventing mental and/or substance use disorders or co-occurring disorders and related problems is critical to behavioral and physical health.

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration

Prevention is Upstream

Imagine standing next to a river and seeing someone drowning as they float downstream. You jump into the river and pull them ashore. As soon as you’ve done that, you see another person in trouble, again floating downstream, and you rescue them as well. Every time you’ve saved one person, you see another and another. After you’ve dragged another drowning body out of the river, you’re thoroughly exhausted.

You know you don’t have the energy to save one more person, so instead, you decide you must go upstream to find out what is causing these people to end up in the river. You want to address this problem at its source. You get upstream and see a bridge. Upon inspection, you find a well-concealed yet large hole in this bridge, causing people to fall in. What do you do? You do what makes the most sense – you work to repair the bridge.

Primary prevention means going upstream and repairing the bridge before more people fall through this hole.

Prevention is Persistence

We are experiencing one of the most volatile substance misuse prevention climates in memory. The pandemic and its related issues continue to challenge prevention professionals to adjust and innovate as they address the misuse prescriptions and other substances in new and creative ways.

By looking at how community-based prevention professionals are promoting critical prevention messaging during the pandemic, SAMHSA has adapted its technical assistance services and resources to meet emerging community needs. New and updated materials include toolkits on how to create prevention opportunities that can be easily accessed through virtual platforms. At the same time SAMHSA’s Prevention Technology Transfer Center Network works to adapt and improve substance misuse prevention/intervention, while providing direct training and technical assistance to the prevention field.

In September, National Recovery Month, prevention professionals on college and university campuses and elsewhere will have opportunities to host fall semester events tied to National Recovery Month and Communities Talk. In addition, the Talk. They Hear You. media campaign offers a wealth of resources aimed at helping parents and caregivers talk with their children early about the dangers of alcohol and other drugs.

While prevention often begins with a conversation, to inspire action to create change involves combining the science with insights from the field to implement prevention strategies in which everyone has a voice. The prevention field has learned how to keep substance misuse prevention alive and well despite a variety of roadblocks, crisis points, and other barriers. The prevention of substance misuse calls for even more of the persistence, creativity, and innovation already being demonstrated across our communities across the country.