Prevention Center of Excellence

Goals:

The Prevention Center of Excellence at the University of Maine, in collaboration with the Office of Substance Abuse, will achieve the following goals:

1. conduct a multi-method, community-based, participatory state-wide needs assessment in Maine to identify the most underserved communities and inform the implementation of substance abuse prevention interventions in those communities and beyond (Year One)
2. based on the needs assessment findings, identify underserved communities, work with those communities, epidemiology, and agency partners to implement and evaluate the prevention intervention, and build community preventive capacity (Years 2-5);
3. seek grants, contracts and other financial sources to support activities to identify needs in and expand systematically-informed prevention to diverse areas of human health and welfare (Years 1-5);
4. through engaging undergraduate and graduate students from relevant disciplines in the project activities, educate students in critical aspects of prevention inquiry, program development, intervention implementation, and evaluation (Years 1-5);
5. conduct pilot inquiry in topical areas agreed upon by collaborators and advisory bodies. These may include research questions: such as

• What are the protective and risk factors associated with abuse of different substances, including such substances as poisons and inhalants?
• What are the protective and risk factors associated with diverse geographic areas of the state?
• What is the association of substance abuse with previous exposure to formal prevention programs?
• What family–based prevention strategies are in place in diverse geographic locations and what predicts adequacy?
• What knowledge and attitudes are held by community members in diverse communities throughout Maine about substance abuse and prevention? What are the correlates of knowledge and positive attitudes?

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