Why Prevention Matters

By: Tom Kowatch

Prevention matters because the goal of prevention is to identify the source of the challenges in our communities and then work to effect change. Substance misuse and abuse is a challenge in all communities. It may take on different forms, and certain substances may be more prevalent in some areas than others, but sadly harmful substances are everywhere. If we ever want to effect change in our communities, we need to understand why individuals choose to use harmful substances.

Why do individuals choose to use substances that have the potential to become addictive, can lead to life altering legal consequences, or even lead to death? To answer the why, we look at risk and protective factors. Risk and protective factors are life occurrences and influences that affect the choices we make and how we perceive the world around us. Risk factors increase the likelihood of undesirable and risky behaviors while protective factors reduce the chances of that behavior. If a child witnesses a parent or caregiver using a substance, this is a risk factor that the child will also misuse the substance. The child’s perception of harm will be lowered due to the witnessed use of the substance by a caregiver. A protective factor would be a parent or caregiver who does not use harmful substances.

Risk and protective factors often cross into multiple harmful behaviors. Family violence, bullying, and suicide have many of the same risk and protective factors. Our goal is to reduce risk factors in our communities and engage people in order to allow opportunities for protective factors to increase. We do this by providing information to communities we serve about the potential effects of substance misuse and abuse as well as awareness of available educational and prevention oriented services and opportunities. Our educational opportunities include classroom curriculums, presentations and outreach within the community. It is also important to provide alternative activities that don’t involve alcohol or other substances. We partner with multiple local community agencies to provide safe and healthy opportunities in which youth and families can participate. One of the aspects of education is working with community partners to identify those at highest risk for harmful behaviors and also providing programs that can educate those at the highest risk and provide them with the opportunity to make healthy and safe choices.

An important aspect of prevention is addressing harmful behaviors at, not only an individual level, but also the community level. Working with businesses, local government, parent committees, schools, etc. to effect change, is crucial to seeing positive change happen and be sustained.

At REACH Council, our mission is to support safe and healthy choices vital to the well-being of our youth, families, and community. Our hope is that each of you will join us in effecting the change that you would like to see in your community.