Environmental Prevention: Strategies for Engaging Youth

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Environmental PreventionStrategies for Engaging
Youth

• Maureen Sedonaen, President
• Youth Leadership Institute

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Foundations for Environmental Prevention
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Foundations for Environmental Prevention

• Understanding the Public Health Model
• What is Environmental Prevention?
• Youth-led Environmental Prevention
• Strategies in Environmental Prevention

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Understanding the Public Health Model
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A Public Health Approach
Public Health Triangle

• Individual Prevention focuses on changing the
  host
• Environmental Prevention focuses on changing the
  agent and environment

Host
Agent
Environment
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What is Environmental Prevention?
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What is Environmental Prevention?

• Environmental Prevention is the promotion of
  health and safety by changing the policies,
  settings and community conditions that contribute
  to high-risk, unhealthy behaviors.
• Some examples include
• Changing how alcohol/tobacco is sold and
  advertised
• When and where alcohol/tobacco is available

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Why Focus on Changing the Environment?
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Why Focus on Changing the Environment?

• Magnitude of the problem
• Turnover in risk groups
• Individual-oriented efforts alone have little
  success

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Why Focus on Changing the Environment?

• An Environmental Prevention Approach focuses on
• Norms
• Media Messages
• Policies
• Accessibility

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Youth-Led Environmental Prevention Practices
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History of Youth-led EP Practices

• Research demonstrating youth-integration is NEW
• Advocacy as an intervention
• Applied skill and knowledge
• Community leadership and empowerment
• Intergenerational partnerships
• Integrate youth development and service needs
  with youth organizing

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Environmental Prevention in Action
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Examples of EP in Action!

• Community Norms
• Community norms, the unwritten rules of
  acceptable behavior in a given setting, have the
  power to encourage or discourage ATOD use and
  abuse.
• Examples of Environmental Strategies
• Promote public events (fairs, concerts, etc.)
  that are alcohol free or that follow rigorous
  guidelines for the sale of alcoholic beverages.
• Expose and attack predatory alcohol and tobacco
  marketing practices.

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Examples of EP in Action!

• Media Messages
• Images in the entertainment and news media
  glamorize ATOD use, especially among youth, and
  tend to solely blame individual users for
  problems. Additionally, alcohol and tobacco
  advertising is widespread in most communities.
• Examples of Environmental Strategies
• Advocate for a film studio to cease alcohol and
  tobacco product placements in PG-13 movies.
• Conduct media outreach to increase news coverage
  of community changes that have reduced problems
  resulting from high-risk drinking.

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Examples of EP in Action!

• Accessibility
• Easy availability of alcohol and tobacco is
  linked to an increased concentration of problems
  such as drinking and driving, crime, safety
  problems, and chronic disease in communities.
• Examples of Environmental Strategies
• Monitor alcohol retailers compliance with
  purchase laws
• Cut off beer sales at sporting events at least
  one hour before the game ends
• Provide attractive non-alcoholic beverages
  whenever alcohol is served.

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Examples of EP in Action!

• Policies and Regulations
• Policies and regulations, whether of the public
  sector (states, counties, cities, school
  districts) or private sector (businesses, social
  clubs), shape how ATOD is sold, promoted and
  consumed.
• Examples of Environmental Strategies
• Establish local zoning ordinances that restrict
  the number of alcohol, tobacco and head shop
  outlets in a neighborhood or city
• Increase state excise tax on alcohol and tobacco
  products
• Drinking Age laws

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Environmental Prevention in Action

• Environmental Prevention is not an attempt to
  bring back Prohibition by completely outlawing
  alcohol and tobacco

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Environmental Prevention in Action

• Rather, this approach attempts to put a balance
  back in our public policies that have
  traditionally favored--and continue to favor--the
  alcohol and tobacco industries over the health
  and welfare of our communities, particularly
  young people.
• -Bonnie Benard, Prevention Resource Center

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Environmental Prevention is an Approach

• Environmental Prevention is an approach with a
  series of strategies that are grounded in the
  community

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Environmental Prevention is an Approach

• that Utilizes
• Data
• Community Organizing
• Action
• Policies

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Environmental Accountability
Policy
Enforcement
Education
Community
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Community Stakeholders
Owners of the Source
Decision-makers /Influencers
Residents /Neighbors
Grounded in the Community
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Promoting Environmental Prevention to Young
People
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Promoting EP to Young People

• Practices in Promoting Environmental Prevention
  to Youth Lessons from the Field
• Ages and Stages of Youth Development
• Effective Age-Appropriate Concepts, Strategies,
  and Exercises

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Practices in Promoting EP

• Inspire!
• Identify Leadership and Skill Development
• Meet Youth and Community Leaders
• Accessible Meeting Times and Places
• Clarify and Support Responsibility and Opportunity

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Practices in Promoting EP

• Address Transportation Needs
• Make it Fun and Interesting
• Guarantee Adult Buy-in
• Empower Youth-led Assessment
• Recognition Opportunities

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Engaging Young People in Environmental
Prevention Strategies
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Effective Engagement of Young People

• Best Practices in Engaging Youth in Environmental
  Prevention Lessons from the Field
• Using Age-Appropriate Strategies
• Understanding the Components of Environmental
  Prevention Efforts
• Using a Continuum of Youth Engagement in EP
  Efforts
• Sample Exercises Tools to Use

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Best Practices in Engaging Youth

• Provide Skill- and Capacity-Building
  Opportunities
• Conduct a Community Mapping and Assessment
  Project
• Have a Defined, Realistic Issue and Timeline
• Engage in Facilitation and Relationship Bldg.
• Develop a Strategy and Action Plan
• Make it FUN!

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Practices in Engaging Youth in EP

• Engage Parents, Families, and Community Members
• Make it Fun and Interesting
• Utilize Media Advocacy Strategies
• Reflect and Recognize
• Tell Your Story!

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Components of EP Efforts

• Capacity-building
• Assessment
• Project Implementation
• Evaluation

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Questions and Next Steps

• Promoting
• Thoughts/Ideas
• Questions
• To Do
• Engaging
• Thoughts/Ideas
• Questions
• To Do

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For more information
YOUTH LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE San Francisco
Office 246 First Street, Suite 400 San
Francisco, CA 94105 (P) 415.836.9160 (F)
415.836.0071 San Rafael Office 24 Belvedere
Street, 2nd floor San Rafael, CA 94901 (P)
415.455.1676 (F) 415.455.1683 National
Training Technical Assistance 877-YLI-TRAIN
(877-954-8724) World Wide Web www.yli.org E-mail
training_at_yli.org