The Partnership @drugfreeNH (The Partnership) and the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension (UNH Extension) are recreating what was to have been the state’s first-ever Substance Misuse Prevention Conference on October 4, 2021. Based on feedback from prevention partners, the delivery of the dynamic content will now be shared through a series of stand alone workshops.
The first two workshops are scheduled for November 5, 2021 during the Partnership Convening session. Speaker Clara Gibbons, Senior Analyst at The FrameWorks Institute, will present Telling A New Prevention Story: Communication About Adolescence, Development And Opportunity. Gibbons will offer a guided tour of research from FrameWorks on how to tell a new more positive and productive story about youth prevention, one which changes the focus from avoiding negative outcomes to supporting healthy adolescent development. The second workshop taking place at that time is Storytelling Workshop: Putting Communications Strategies into Practice.
Other scheduled workshops over the six-month period include topics like: engaging youth and promoting youth voices in prevention efforts, offering an evidence-based alternative for adults to manage chronic pain without the use of addictive opioid-based prescriptions, and examples of how New Hampshire coalitions pivoted their own work to meet the changing circumstances and needs in their communities throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We believe every person in New Hampshire can contribute to the prevention of substance misuse by accessing and promoting the resources available via The Partnership,” said Karyn Dudley Madore, Partnership Director. “We are pleased to partner with the UNH Extension to provide this conference as a source of information for those who most need it: people working within their communities to ensure the safety and health of their neighbors by promoting positive messaging and choices related to substance misuse.”
The training series is intended for prevention specialists, community coalitions, health and human services professionals, social service professionals, behavioral health specialists, social workers, and members of the general public who are interested in learning more about preventing substance misuse. Registration for each workshop can be accessed at https://drugfreenh.org/events/.