Event Overview
On October 25th, 2024, the Tufts University Skeer Lab proudly hosted its first-ever day-long Adolescent Substance Use Prevention Symposium! Themed “Empowering Prevention: Uniting Research and Practice,” the event focused on bridging gaps across sectors to strengthen prevention efforts for young people. We were thrilled to bring together a range of voices—researchers, government representatives, practitioners, and youth—to share insights and collaborate. Our call to action encouraged participants to step beyond their professional boundaries and engage with stakeholders from other fields. We invite you to explore perspectives outside your expertise and connect with others to amplify the impact of adolescent substance use prevention.
Speakers and Presenters
Opening Presentation
Dr. Margie Skeer
Interim Chair of Public Health & Community Medicine and Weiner Hailey Family Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine
Dr. Skeer’s research currently focuses on family engagement and the role that family meals play in adolescent risk prevention. She has been the Principal Investigator on multiple studies to develop and test interventions related to adolescent substance use prevention, including The SUPPER (Substance Use Prevention Promoted by Eating family meals Regularly) Project.
During her presentation, titled “Empowering Prevention: Uniting Research and Practice”, Dr. Skeer will discuss prevention, some of her work within the field of adolescent substance use, and the importance of breaking out of silos in our efforts.
Breakout Session Leaders
Government
Ian Wong
Deputy Director, Worcester Division of Public Health
Strategies for Primary Substance Use Prevention
This program focuses on evidence-based approaches to prevent the onset of substance use in individuals and communities. It explores key prevention strategies, including fostering protective factors such as education, community engagement, and mental health support, while addressing risk factors that contribute to substance use.
Sarah C. Ruiz
Deputy Director for Strategy & Community Health. Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Bureau of Substance Addiction Services
What is MA DPH doing about Adolescent SU prevention?
This breakout session will provide an opportunity to hear from and interact with the MA DPH Deputy Director for Strategy and Community Health of the Bureau of Substance Addiction Services (BSAS). Sarah will provide an overview of the BSAS prevention funding landscape and current portfolio, as well as updates on the prevention efforts across Health and Human Services in MA and vision for the future. There will be time allotted for discussion and input.
Dishon Liang
Youth Prevention Program Director, Boston Public Health Commission, Bureau of Recovery Services
“Boston’s Approach to Systemic Youth Prevention: Strategies, Programs, and Lessons Learned”
This session will cover the BPHC’s Youth Prevention program’s approach to addressing substance use from a systemic approach utilizing the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) and infusing a Restorative Prevention and Harm Reduction framework. Participants will gain valuable knowledge on youth-led prevention examples, campaign development, and strategies to make change at varying levels of the socio-economic framework through active participation and learning. Participants will also be able to hear about the lessons learned from this experience and identify strategies to implement within their own communities.
Practice
Casey Corcoran
Senior Director, BARCC
he/him/his
Using Pop Culture as a Public Health Prevention Strategy
Pop culture offers an opportunity to develop serious and impactful public health prevention messages geared towards young people. This presentation will explore and share examples of seizing pop culture opportunities to shape youth-centered and youth-driven programming.
http://www.barcc.org/
Milton Coalition: Margaret Carels Coalition Consultant: Amanda Decker
“Substance Use Prevention Coalitions: What’s Working and What’s New?”
John Crocker
Director of School Mental Health & Behavioral Services
Methuen Public Schools Founder & Director, MASMHC
A Systems Level Approach to Addressing the Youth Mental Health Crisis: Comprehensive School Mental Health Systems
Session attendees will gain an understanding of how the development of a Comprehensive School Mental Health System (CSMHS) can foster a prevention oriented approach to addressing the youth mental health crisis, including youth substance use. Specific tiered interventions that have proven to be effective offered by Methuen Public School’s CSMHS will be discussed, and attendees will learn about the importance of attending to the infrastructure needs that allow for effective implementation of evidence-based interventions. Topics of discussion will include universal mental health screening, developing an effective school mental health staffing model, the importance of clinical leadership and supervision, and leveraging partnerships to augment available services for students and families.
Research
Cedric Woods & Chyla Bingham-Hendricks
Development of a Substance Use Prevention Intervention for Native Middle-Schoolers
Demographic descriptive analysis of the Native population in Massachusetts will be presented. A brief background on historical trauma will be discussed linking the intersectionality of this trauma to substance misuse. The presenters will then describe the development and feasibility testing of a manualized intervention.
Team:
– Chyla Bingham-Hendricks, BSN, PhD Student
– Autaquay Peters-Mosquera, MBA, BSN, PhD Student
– Teri Aronowitza, PhD, APRN, FAAN, Professor
– Cedric Woods, PhD, Director
Tan Chinfen Graduate School of Nursing, UMass Chan, Worcester, MA
Institute of New England Native American Studies, UMass Boston, Boston, MA
Shivani Mathur Gaiha
PhD, MSc (She/Her/Hers)
Senior Research Scientist and Member of the Faculty of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Redefining our Understanding of How Social Media Marketing Influences Adolescent E-cigarette Use
Social media is a growing source of e-cigarette marketing exposure associated with increased odds of e-cigarette use among adolescents and young adults. We lack evidence about adolescent and young adult perceptions about whether and what types of social media marketing influences e-cigarette purchase and use behaviors, and how to reduce the appeal of such marketing influences. This presentation will discuss self-reported e-cigarette marketing characteristics on social media that are perceived by youth to influence purchase, youth-suggested counter-marketing strategies, and likely effective marketing communication that may deter underage e-cigarette purchases. Results are from focus groups with adolescents in 11 states and a web-based survey among 5,326 13-24-year-olds, with several implications for policy and policy awareness.
Sion Kim Harris
PhD, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC, CPH, Co-Director, Center for Adolescent Behavioral Health Research (CABHRe), Boston Children’s Hospital
Adolescent Substance Use Prevention through Screening and Brief Counseling in Primary Care: Lessons and Opportunities
Presenting with Maddie O’Connell
MPH, Clinical Research Specialist, CABHRe, Boston Children’s Hospital
Primary care offices offer an important venue for adolescent substance use prevention through screening and brief counseling. Our prior and current research explores the challenges and facilitators to its implementation, and its effects on clinician practice and adolescent substance use and related risk behavior.
Elevating the Youth Voice
Jim Hood
CEO – Generation S.O.S
Saving Young Lives… One Story at a Time — the Power of Peer-to-Peer Storytelling to Create Connection, Community, and Inspiration
Youth Prevention Program Youth Advisory Board
Boston Public Health Commission
Exploring Youth Voice: A BPHC Youth Advisory Board Podcast Listening Session and Q&A
This session will highlight the “Break the Line” podcast scripted, hosted, and produced by the BPHC Youth Prevention program’s Youth Advisory Board. Participants will get to listen to an episode of the podcast taken from season 2 focusing on Vaping and Cannabis Use which discusses the latest 2023 Boston Youth Risk Behavior Survey data and their reactions comparing the survey to their lived experiences. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity for participants to ask questions to the YAB hosts.
https://copecodeclub.com/break-the-line-podcast/
Instagram: @copecodeclu
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