Research & Resources

Researchers developed and tested a multi-year school-based intervention called CONNECT among white and American Indian students in a Cherokee Nation high school. While other research papers focused on the program outcomes, this research paper focused on the program design and implementation. CONNECT contains two prevention strategies: screening and brief intervention using motivational interviewing administered by a trained coach; and, a media campaign consisting of posters and postcards for students and parents. This paper reveals that throughout the CONNECT intervention, at least 73% of eligible students met with a coach each semester. Additionally, the CONNECT communities did embrace the marketing campaign and poster/postcards could be found throughout the communities.The paper, “CONNECT: Implementation of a School-Based Alcohol Screening and Brief Intervention for Youth in the Cherokee Nation,” was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. It was published in the Journal of School Health.