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National Prevention Week Social Media Campaign
Hosted by:
New Britain Local Prevention Council
Please briefly describe your Communities Talk activity.
In May 2021 for National Prevention Week, the Youth Group of the New Britain Local Prevention Council (NBLPC) worked with Axim Design to run a weeklong social media campaign. This campaign focused on the testimonies of youth and why they choose not to engage in substance use. The public service announcements (PSAs) were centered around underage drinking prevention, marijuana use, vaping, use of prescription opioids, and suicide awareness. Social media analytics indicated that the video PSAs reached people in the community, as the following data shows:
- Supercut (covering all substances): 410 views
- Prescription opioid misuse: 320 views
- Vaping: 305 views
- Suicide: 385 views
- Alcohol: 905 views
- Marijuana: 531 views
How does alcohol and other drug misuse affect your community?
NBLPC is a part of New Britain Recovers (NB Recovers), which unifies social and human services to assist vulnerable populations and support city youth. NB Recovers represents the many individuals and community organizations that provide services in the areas of homelessness, substance misuse, addiction, and youth substance use prevention. The two links Bee Responsible and National Prevention Week show the content, which highlights youth in New Britain and their reasons for not engaging in substance use.
For our Communities Talk activity, we brought together the city's Opioid Task Force, Homelessness Plan, and Local Prevention Council. Our collaboration efforts led to an efficient and effective one-stop shop that provided a more holistic service approach to community members. Therefore, we had the advantage to extend our reach in the community to create a safe and heathy environment, ensuring positive youth development.
What goal(s) did you hope to accomplish with your Communities Talk activity?
- Create new resources/materials (e.g., publications, handouts, factsheets, videos, graphics) to support prevention of underage drinking and misuse of other substances
What challenge(s) did you face in planning your activity this year?
- Adapting to conducting a virtual activity
How did you overcome these challenges?
We overcame these challenges by working alongside our marketing and design media team to reach the community via our social media outlets.
What are your next steps?
- Conduct research efforts to learn more about issues in our community
- Create a public education campaign to raise awareness and/or change behaviors around underage drinking (i.e., create PSAs and other promotional materials)
Which Communities Talk resources (or other SAMHSA resources) were most helpful for your activity?
- Communities Talk website
- Communities Talk social media content (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)
Who did you involve in your activity planning, and who did your activity impact?
The New Britain Youth Leadership Council, which is a part of NBLPC, was directly involved. The Youth Leadership Council was featured in each video PSA, displaying each of their favorite activities. The students, who represent every middle and high school in New Britain, worked alongside our marketing and design agency to develop a script and produce the videos. The PSAs were displayed on our NB Recovers Facebook page and the New Britain Youth Prevention webpage.
Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the planning or execution of your activities?
In consideration of COVID-19 safety precautions, we decided to host a social media campaign rather than having an in-person event.
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