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Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010

Mapping Alcohol Outlet Density: Implications
from Research to Practice

Presenter(s): Khoa Truong, Clemson Univ.; Qian Guo, Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Health

Moderator(s): Michael Sparks, Alcohol Policy Specialist

Description: Alcohol misuse and abuse is related to serious physical, social, and economic problems. Research has demonstrated that as alcohol outlet density increases in a given area, excessive drinking and related harms also increase. During this workshop, two researchers will present their latest findings on this topic. The research has important implications for how Discussion will include how communities can assess their alcohol environments and implement environmental interventions such as tightening licensure, enforcing minimum-age drinking laws, and other measures to curb opportunities for youth to obtain alcohol from commercial sources and reduce alcohol-related problems.

Learning objectives: (1) Understand the risks of exposure to excessive alcohol sales
and how to systematically assess alcohol sales and alcohol outlet distribution
in neighborhoods and around schools; (2) Improve knowledge about how to utilize
information on alcohol outlets to assist in the development of evidence-based
programs aiming to address community level risk factors of alcohol misuse and
abuse; (3) Improve capacity of analyzing and presenting data on alcohol outlets
in appropriate ways and be better informed when making decisions regarding resource allocation.

Level: ALL Levels

Presentation: Download (10.8MB), Download (3.5MB)

How to Implement Evidence-Based Prevention Programs That Work: Proven Examples to Use in Your Communities (2-Part Session)

Presenter(s): Timothy Condon & Eve Reider, NIDA; Sheppard Kellam, JHU Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Integrating Education and Prevention Research in Schools, American Institute Research (AIR); J. David Hawkins, Social Development Research Group, Univ. of Washington School of Social Work

Description: The field of drug abuse prevention science has made significant gains in the past 25 years, resulting in a cadre of efficacious and effective interventions. This two-hour workshop will highlight three examples of NIDA-funded research studies that focus on implementation issues within created and existing prevention systems. The: 1) Good Behavior Game (GBG) is offered through public schools, the remaining two models, 2) Communities that Care (CTC), and 3) PROSPER (PROmoting School-community-university Partnerships to Enhance Resilience) are created systems.

Learning objectives: (1) Understand the arguments presented by the Amethyst Initiative for lowering
the drinking age; (2) Understand the arguments for keeping the drinking age
at 21; (3) Describe the continuing effectiveness of the MLDA-21 in saving lives.
(4) Describe evidence-based data-driven measures for reducing underage drinking
problems

Level: ALL Levels

Presentation: Download (772KB), Download (10.9MB), Download (636KB), Download (1.2MB)

Practical Tools for Bridging Science and Practice: A Work in Progress

Presenter(s): Robert Saltz, Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation; Michael Sparks

Description: The current state of efforts to bridge science and practice are dominated by efforts to disseminate or scale up interventions shown to be efficacious. This too often results in casting the problem as one of communication and of overcoming low fidelity, reinforcing a one-way delivery of science to practice. In this interactive workshop, the facilitators will lay out a few tools being developed by the Prevention Research Center (PIRE) that are aimed at facilitating community-level prevention interventions. These tools include the use of non-standard logic models to drive intervention designs as well as to clarify the boundaries between research evidence and local knowledge and expertise. After describing the process and the tools, the session will ask for feedback from participants with the aim of identifying strengths and weaknesses in the approach, and what other components may be necessary. Although the examples will be drawn from alcohol problem prevention, the overall approach should be of interest to anyone committed to implementing evidence-based prevention interventions.

Learning objectives: (1) Understand how to bring science and practice together in community prevention; (2) Identify opportunities for using new planning tools in local prevention initiatives; (3) Sharpen critical thinking about strategic planning in community settings

Level: ALL Levels

Presentation: Download (14.6MB)

A New Look at College Drinking: Results from the NIAAA Rapid Response Grants and How Coalitions Can Apply Them

Presenter(s): Ralph Hingson, Sc.D., M.P.H. Division of Epidemiology and Prevention Research, NIAAA

Description: Presentation will review the results of the research grants that comprised the NIAAA Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems Initiative, a unique project that evaluated innovative intervention efforts based on the recommendations from the NIAAA College Drinking Task Force. The results, particularly those focusing on campus-community partnerships, shed new light on effective ways to address excessive college drinking and the important role that coalitions can play in these efforts.

Learning objectives: (1) Increase awareness of the NIAAA Rapid Response project and its results; (2) Describe the latest research on campus-community partnerships; (3) Discuss roles that coalitions can play in facilitating and maintaining effective partnerships

Level: ALL Levels

Presentation: Download (4.3MB)

Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010

Defending the Minimum Legal Drinking Age 21 (MLDA-21)

Presenter(s): James Fell, Pacific Institute for Research & Evaluation

Description: This workshop will discuss the "Amethyst Initiative" signed by 138 College Presidents to revisit the minimum legal drinking age of 21 and consider lowering it to 18. The arguments presented by the Amethyst Initiative advocates will be presented and persuasive counter-arguments will be described. The "European Myth" will be dispelled by showing that the adolescents in most European countries (where the MLDAs are 16 to 18) have higher binge drinking and intoxication rates than the U.S. adolescents.

Learning objectives: Participants will learn

Level:

The Epidemiology and Prevention of Excessive Drinking

Presenter(s): Robert Brewer, CDC Alcohol Program

Description: Excessive alcohol consumption, including underage and binge drinking, kills approximately 79,000 people in the U.S. annually, making it the third leading preventable cause of death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Alcohol Program has been working with the Guide to Community Preventive Services and other partner organizations to systematically review community-based strategies for preventing excessive alcohol consumption and related harms, including limiting alcohol outlet density and increasing alcohol excise taxes. The purpose of this presentation will be to review the epidemiology of underage and binge drinking in the U.S., to discuss the findings of recent Community Guide reviews, and to discuss the role of state alcohol epidemiologists in working with communities to translate effective strategies for preventing excessive drinking into public health practice.

Learning objectives: (1) Understand the public health impact of excessive drinking in the U.S.; (2) Identify evidence-based strategies for preventing excessive drinking; (3) Understand the role of state alcohol epidemiologists in assessing excessive drinking and translating effective prevention strategies into practice.

Level: ALL Levels