Best Practices Prevention Programs

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The Alcohol Literacy Challenge™ (ALC) is a brief classroom-based program designed to alter alcohol expectancies and reduce the quantity and frequency of alcohol use among high school and college students. Alcohol expectancies are an individual's beliefs about the anticipated effects of alcohol use, including those that are positive (e.g., increased sociability, reduced tension) and negative (e.g., impairments to mental and behavioral functioning, increased aggressiveness or risk taking). Some of the most desired effects--the arousing, positive, and prosocial effects--are placebo effects rather than pharmacological ones. ALC aims to correct erroneous beliefs about the effects of alcohol, decreasing positive and increasing negative expectancies. These shifts in expectancies have been shown to predict lower levels of alcohol use.

During a one-time ALC lesson, students learn about standard drinks, the range of alcohol expectancies, the difference between pharmacological effects and placebo effects, and efforts by alcohol companies to portray positive alcohol expectancies in advertisements. Part of the lesson involves watching video clips of commercials advertising alcohol. Students deconstruct the advertisements, identifying the positive alcohol expectancies conveyed and discussing the contradictions between those expectancies and alcohol's pharmacological and behavioral effects.

In the high school version of ALC, students also divide into teams and assess the alcohol effects portrayed in alcohol-related video clips, earning points for correct answers.

The intervention, which requires 90 minutes for the high school version and 50 minutes for the college version, can be incorporated into an existing course (e.g., health education) and implemented in one or two class periods. Because the intervention is designed to challenge the unique expectancies of each participating student, it can be used across different populations and cultural groups. 

Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST) is a research-validated substance abuse prevention program proven to reduce the risks of alcohol, tobacco, drug abuse, and violence by targeting the major social and psychological factors that promote the initiation of substance use and other risky behaviors. This comprehensive and exciting program provides adolescents and young teens with the confidence and skills necessary to successfully handle challenging situations. 

Developed by Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, a leading prevention expert, Botvin LifeSkills Training is backed by over 30 scientific studies and is recognized as a Model or Exemplary program by an array of government agencies including the U.S. Department of Education and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. 

Rather than merely teaching information about the dangers of drug abuse, Botvin LifeSkills Training promotes healthy alternatives to risky behavior through activities designed to:

• Teach students the necessary skills to resist social (peer) pressures to smoke, drink, and use drugs
• Help students to develop greater self-esteem and self-confidence
• Enable students to effectively cope with anxiety
• Increase their knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance abuse
• Enhance cognitive and behavioral competency to reduce and prevent a variety of health risk behaviors

SEED is currently implementing this program with the Chapman Partnership in South Florida.

Photovoice is a process in which people – usually those with limited power due to poverty, language barriers, race, class, ethnicity, gender, culture, or other circumstances – use video and/or photo images to capture aspects of their environment and experiences and share them with others. The pictures can then be used, usually with captions composed by the photographers, to bring the realities of the photographers’ lives home to the public and policymakers and to spur change.

The concept has existed for many years, but much of the theoretical background of current programs comes from the work of Caroline Wang. In 1992, Photovoice based on a combination of Paulo Freire’s notion of “critical consciousness” (a deep understanding of the way the world works and how society, politics, and power relationships affect one’s own situation): Social Theory, which emphasizes the importance of voice; and documentary photography, which is often used to help bring about social change.

Photovoice includes these five concepts:

1. Images teach
2. Pictures can influence policy
3. Community members ought to participate in creating and defining the images that shape healthful public policy
4. The process requires that from the outset planners bring policymakers and other influential people to the table to serve as an audience
5. Photovoice emphasizes individual and community action

Photovoice has three main goals:

1. To help those who are often unheard gain a voice, enabling them to record and reflect on their experiences and their communities’ conditions, both positive and negative.
2. To encourage critical consciousness. Through choosing, discussing, and reflecting on the subjects of their photographs, the photographers can come to a clearer understanding of their circumstances and the economic, social, psychological, and political forces that shape them.
3. To bring about change that will improve conditions and enhance lives by reaching and influencing policy makers.

In order to achieve these goals, it’s important to understand that Photovoice entails much more than just handing people cameras and sending them out to take pictures or video. The photographers start by learning the basics of camera use and discussing safe and ethical documentary practices. In most cases, they meet regularly in a facilitated group (often jointly led by a photographer and a counselor or other human service worker) to show and discuss the images they’ve taken, and to be able to state opinions and feelings in a safe and supportive environment. Other possible elements of a Photovoice program are discussed in the how-to part of this section. A Photovoice project or program can be an inexpensive and powerful tool for both life change and social change, but it needs to be planned and executed with a good deal of thought.

Since Photovoice is essentially a type of participatory action research, it can also be used as a qualitative research method, as an assessment tool, as a way of gathering data, and as an evaluation tool. A Photovoice project can be freestanding, but is more often – and probably more effectively – run in collaboration with an existing group or coalition.

Parent Cafés are physically and emotionally safe spaces where parents and caregivers talk about the challenges and victories of raising a family.  Through individual deep self-reflection and peer-to-peer learning, participants explore their strengths, learn about the Protective Factors, and create strategies from their own wisdom and experiences to help strengthen their families.

Cafés are carefully-designed, structured discussions that use the principles of adult learning and family support. They are highly sustainable with training reinforcement, institutional support, and a commitment to an approach that engages and affirms parents as leaders. Participants leave Parent Cafés feeling inspired, energized, and excited to put into practice what they’ve learned.

The Be Strong Families Parent Café model has touched thousands of families through Race to the Top Early Learning Grants, SAMHSA Project Launch Grants, Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention initiatives, Child Welfare Systems, Family Resource and Support Centers, Early Childhood Development Centers, and other school- and community-based initiatives.

The Strengthening Families™ Protective Factors are:

- Resilience: Parent Resilience

- Relationships: Positive Social Connections

- Support: Concrete Support in Times of Need

- Knowledge: Knowledge of Parenting and Child Development

- Communication: Social and Emotional Competence

DARE to be You (DTBY)is an award-winning family-based program that empowers youth, families, and communities.

Adults and youths from many diverse communities enjoy the interactive, engaging, and empowering quality of the program. This combined with strong evidence from our controlled research adds up to an evidence-based program that makes important changes for families and youth. And, it has complete materials and training to help sites implement the tested models. The key program concepts are appropriate across diverse cultures and settings.

DARE to be You (DTBY) focuses on positive development of youth (and prevention of problem behaviors) through training, curriculum, and technical assistance for

- Families

- Families with preschool children (ages 2 to 5)

- Families with early elementary children (ages 5 to 8) and their teachers

- Families with middle school children (ages 11 to 14)

- Teachers and staff in school and after-school programs (K-12th grades)

- Teams of community volunteers working with youth

- Teen peer educators

DARE to Be You has had multiple replications that have further demonstrated the positive results that DTBY can offer your community. The DTBY program packages include replication and evaluation tools as well as technical support.

It is a model program for several federal and state agencies and is listed on the National Registry for Effective Prevention Programs.

The Strengthening Families Program (SFP) is a nationally and internationally recognized parenting and family strengthening program for high-risk and general population families. SFP is an evidence-based family skills training program found to significantly improve parenting skills and family relationships, reduce problem behaviors, delinquency and alcohol and drug abuse in children and to improve social competencies and school performance. Child maltreatment also decreases as parents strengthen bonds with their children and learn more effective parenting skills.

The original 14-session evidence-based SFP for high-risk families with children ages 6 to 11 years (SFP6-11) was developed and tested in the mid 1980s by Dr. Karol L. Kumpfer on a NIDA research grant with children of substance-abusing parents. Subsequent randomized control trials (RCTs) have found similar positive results with families in many different ethnic groups. Both culturally adapted versions and the core version of SFP have been found effective with African-American, Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and First Nations families. SFP is in 36 countries.