6 Chapter 6: Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Core Strategies

This chapter sorts strategies by CSAP Core Strategy category. The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention categorizes prevention strategies by the services they provide. There are six categories:

• Education: Two-Way communication and activities between a facilitator and group with the goal of improving life and social skills, increasing knowledge and change attitudes.
• Information dissemination: One-way communication to enhance knowledge and awareness.
• Alternatives: Constructive activities and events encouraging a population to participate in safe and healthy recreation that excludes substance use.
• Community-based processes: Builds the community’s ability to provide prevention, treatment and recovery through partnerships, coalition building, data acquisition and system enhancement.
• Environmental approaches: Focuses on community-level impact through codes, legislation, policies, bills and ordinances.
• Problem identification and referral to education: Though part of prevention, this strategy is most often not part of primary prevention. The strategy recognizes those who are exposed to multiple risk factors for substance misuse and individuals who have experimented with substances. Problem Identification and referral reaches those who have indulged in illegal/age-inappropriate use of tobacco or alcohol and those individuals who have indulged in the first use of illicit drugs. The goal is to assess if their behavior can be reversed through education. It should be noted, however, that this strategy does not include any activity designed to determine if a person needs treatment. Examples of activities conducted, and methods used for this strategy include (but are not limited to) the following: Employee assistance programs, Student assistance programs, and Driving while under the influence/driving while intoxicated education programs.

More information on the CSAP Core Strategies can be located on the Prevention Insights Training Portal: https://iprc.iu.edu/training/courses.php. To access the extensive list of trainings, click the link and create an account. After creating the account, click on List of Trainings and search by title: CSAP Core Strategies.

Clicking on the strategy will navigate you to its listing in Chapter 1.

Education

Information Dissemination

Alternatives

Community-Based Process

Problem Identification and Referral to Education

Environmental Approaches