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"Protect Your Crew"
Hosted by:
University of Saint Joseph
Please briefly describe your Communities Talk activity.
During our fair-style “Protect Your Crew” event, we provided six tables and two activities to start the conversation about preventing substance misuse. We developed and distributed various educational materials for underage drinking prevention, alcohol and other drug harm reduction techniques, and alcohol and other drug risk awareness among peer groups. We also set up various activities to bring awareness to and educate participants on the effects of alcohol consumption.
How does alcohol and other drug misuse affect your community?
As we are an undergraduate and graduate educational institution that supports students of various ages, underage drinking is always a concern for us. Underage drinking can result in injury and altercations among peer groups and in intimate relationships.
What goal(s) did you hope to accomplish with your Communities Talk activity?
- Reduce prevalence of underage drinking and other substances in community
- Create an ongoing conversation about underage drinking and substance use prevention in the community
- Foster collaboration between community stakeholders for continued underage drinking and substance use prevention activities
- 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?
- Needed additional resources to conduct activity
- Unforeseen difficulties when planning our activity
- Inexperience hosting Communities Talk activities
How did you overcome these challenges?
Having various university departments help develop educational materials and activities was integral to the success of the event. Many of the challenges indicated above were foreseen, and contingency plans were put in place; however, they were not needed. We learned how to develop and obtain various educational materials related to alcohol prevention and harm reduction, and are excited to continue this work in the future.
What are your next steps?
- Host follow-up meetings or activities
- Support new prevention policies, legislation, or social ordinances
- 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?
- StopAlcoholAbuse.gov website
- Communities Talk website
- Communities Talk planning guides
- Communities Talk toolkits
- Communities Talk social media content (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)
- Communities Talk Find an Activity Map
- Communities Talk support staff
Who did you involve in your activity planning, and who did your activity impact?
The university’s Counseling and Wellness Center, Student Health Services, Student Activities Leadership Development, Public Safety, Title IX Office, Student-Supported Working on Wellness Team, Student Affairs, and Residential Life all contributed to the success of this event. Our intended audience was the greater University of Saint Joseph community, and we were able to reach much of our intended audience. Youth (undergraduate students) helped with the planning and promotion of the activity by developing many of the activities present at the event and promoting the event through designing and posting various social media announcements.
Did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the planning or execution of your activities?
The COVID-19 pandemic did not affect the planning or execution of our activities.
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