A Framework for Using Epidemiological Data to Support Substance Abuse Prevention and Mental Health Promotion

The Behavioral Health Indicator Workgroup (BHIW) comprises selected SAMHSA/CSAP project officers and staff from the Center for Application of Prevention Technologies (CAPT) and SAMHSA’s former State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW). The BHIW was created to assist SEOWs to respond to requests from state health departments that wanted to strengthen their monitoring systems and progress in addressing a broader range of health and well-being indicators related to substance abuse. The BHIW’s identified precursors or factors that impact, for example, both depression and heavy alcohol use. Existing research and data suggest that there are number of ‘shared’ early predictors or risk/protective factors that impact both substance abuse and mental health outcomes (IOM 2009).

The BHIW has taken a staged approach combining research, data and expert feedback in order to achieve workgroup goals. The BHIW conducted the following tasks:

• Task 1: Identify a set of shared risk and protective factors: The workgroup reviewed research literature from the past 10 years to identify risk and protective factors that impact both substance abuse and mental disorders. The list was submitted for expert review.
• Task 2: Assess data availability for selected indicators: The workgroup searched national datasets and reviewed data sources from state and community profiles for selected risk and protective factors. The BHIW generated information on data availability and gaps.
• Task 3: Collect, analyze, and disseminate data: The BHIW is analyzing and reporting available data on the Behavioral Health Indicator System where clients can access, download and utilize these indicator data for prevention planning.
• Task 4: Create user friendly products: The BHIW shares findings and creates products and tools to assist clients in interpreting and utilizing shared risk and protective factor data for prevention planning.

The data and summary products generated by the BHIW are expected to assist clients in incorporating shared risk and protective factors in prevention planning and enhance their capacity to monitor a broader set of behavioral health indicators. The BHIW is poised to launch an interactive online database that allows users to search for shared risk and protective factors. For each factor, the workgroup has identified potential outcomes at different developmental stages and have identified existing measures that can help to assess the degree to which that factor is present. 

This presentation will present the process used by the BHIW to develop the set of shared risk and protective factors as well as the outcomes of its efforts.