Session: Building an Exchange Between Prevention Science and Prevention Systems Using Epidemiological Data (Society for Prevention Research 21st Annual Meeting)

In an age of accountability, policy makers and practitioners need to consider and use epidemiological data and other information to make informed decisions for public health. Yet data alone are insufficient for strengthening prevention systems. Deliberate structures and strategies for synthesizing, interpreting, and presenting data from different perspectives are required to translate empirical information into understandable and meaningful assessments that can then be applied to decisions.  

The three papers in this symposium describe in sequence:

1) A national system of epidemiological workgroups funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s (SAMHSA) Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) that have served 65 States, Tribes, and Jurisdictions (STJs) since 2004. Variations in STJ infrastructure will be described, as well as challenges encountered and met by a national training and technical assistance support system established to guide this work.

2) The multiple uses of epidemiological data in the state of Rhode Island as part of its Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF-SIG) Program funded by SAMSHA/CSAP that strengthen its prevention system.  Epidemiological data were used to choose state-level prevention priorities, identify priority municipalities to target for local programming efforts and at the community level to plan multi-level evidence-based interventions.  From 2005-2010 these efforts resulted in desired state-level declines in prevalence of underage drinking which significantly exceeded national secular trends.

3) How following epidemiological data in Massachusetts as part of the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF-SIG) in October 2006 led to the identification of unintentional (i.e., non-suicidal) fatal and non-fatal opioid overdoses as the priority issue for its SPF-SIG grant. The paper will describe how the epidemiological data led to an unexpected conclusion that would prove to be a harbinger of a national epidemic of opioid overdoses, and how the epidemiological data successfully allowed the state to defend its decision to CSAP to adopt a harm-reduction approach for the state, rather than a more traditional primary prevention strategy.   

The symposium chair will allow time for discussion among the panelists and between the panelists and audience on lessons learned, ongoing challenges and future potentials in enhancing prevention systems and practices by using epidemiological data.