How ready a community is to address a particular issue is an important tool for anyone concerned with health and community development. A community can’t be convinced to approach an issue until it realizes that the issue exists, and furthermore, that it affects the community. A community can’t be forced into action it is not ready for, or that goes against what most of its members believe. And in order for community coalitions to be successful, a community must have the support and commitment of its members and the needed resources to implement an effective prevention effort.

Once you’ve determined your community's level of readiness for prevention, you can use some of the strategies below to improve your community's readiness:

Stage 1: Community Tolerance/No Knowledge

• Small-group and one-on-one discussions with community leaders like law enforcement officers, school officials, parents, businesses, and healthcare professionals to identify perceived benefits of substance abuse and how norms reinforce use. 
• Small-group and one-on-one discussions on the health, psychological, and social costs of substance abuse with community leaders to change perceptions with those most likely to be part of a drug coalition.
  

Stage 2: Denial

• Educational outreach on the health, psychological, and social costs of substance abuse to community leaders and community groups interested in sponsoring local coalition prevention efforts. 
• Use of local incidents that illustrate harmful consequences of substance abuse in one-on-one discussions. 
  

Stage 3: Vague Awareness

• Educational outreach on national and state prevalence rates of substance abuse and prevalence rates in other communities with similar characteristics to community leaders and possible sponsorship groups. Be sure to include local incidents that illustrate harmful consequences of substance abuse. 
• Local media campaigns that emphasize consequences of substance abuse. 
  

Stage 4: Pre-planning

• Educational outreach that includes prevalence rates and correlates or causes of substance abuse to community members including youth, parents, and youth-serving organizations.
• Local media campaigns emphasizing the consequences of substance abuse and ways of reducing demand for illicit substances through prevention efforts. 
  

Stage 5: Preparation

• Educational training to community members like schools, law enforcement, parents, and government officials, that introduces the concept of coalition building and illustrate specific coalitions adopted by other communities with similar profiles. 
• A local media campaign describing the benefits of coalition building for reducing substance abuse. Be sure to utilize the internet, email, radio, newspapers, newsletters, and mailings for your media campaign.
  

Stage 6: Initiation

• In-service educational training for coalition staff (paid and/or volunteer) on substance abuse consequences, correlates, and causes and the nature of the problem in the local community. 
• Publicity efforts to kickoff the coalition. 
  
• A special meeting to provide an update and review of initial coalition activities with community members and local sponsorship groups. 
  

Stage 7: Institutionalization/Stabilization

• In-service educational training on the evaluation process, new trends in substance abuse, and new initiatives in prevention. Either trainers are brought in from the outside or staff are sent to trainings sponsored by professional societies. 
• Periodic review meetings and/or special recognition events for local supporters of the coalition. 
  
• Local publicity efforts associated with review meetings and recognition events. 
  

Stage 8: Confirmation/Expansion

• In-service educational training on conducting local needs assessments to target specific groups in the community for prevention efforts. Either trainers are brought in from the outside or staff are sent to trainings sponsored by professional societies. 
• Results of research and evaluation activities of the coalition are presented to the public through local media and/or public meetings. 
  

Stage 9: Professionalization

• Continued in-service training of staff. 
• Continued assessment of new drug-related problems and reassessment of targeted groups within community. 
  
• Continued evaluation of coalition and its efforts. 
  
• Continued update on coalition activities and results for the benefit of community leaders and local sponsorship groups and periodic stories through local media and/or public meetings. 
  

To learn more about assessing your community’s level of readiness for substance abuse prevention, please contact Stacy Mathis at smathis@drugfreecincinnati.org or 513-751-8000 ext. 16.