Posted on July 21, 2010

Prevention “Number One Priority”

A real interest in prevention appears to exist at the federal level now!  Here is an interesting piece reflecting on statements made by three top federal officials at a recent meeting:

(Excerpt from Behavorial Healthcare online, a piece entitled Looking into the “crystal ball”: Hyde, McLellan, and Compton envision the future at SAAS/NIATx gathering. Part I in a series by Dennis Grantham, Senior Editor)

Before a crowd of about 800 at this year’s State Associations of Addiction Services (SAAS) and NIATx Summit, three key officials—SAMHSA administrator Pamela Hyde, ONDCP deputy director Tom McLellan, and NIDA division director Wilson Compton—highlighted federal efforts and initiatives that will impact funding, care methodologies, care delivery, and technology implementation for providers of behavioral health and substance use treatment services now entering into what Hyde called “the brave new world” shaped by national health reform and parity.

Because 50 percent of adult mental health issues manifest symptoms before the age of 14 and 75 percent manifest before the age of 25, the trio emphasized the need to build a “system of prevention” implemented locally and focus community-based supports on children, adolescents, and young adults.

“Our number one priority is prevention,” asserted Hyde, who asked, “How can we develop emotionally healthy kids?” The key, she explained, is to reach them early by fostering the development of “prevention prepared communities,” or PPCs. McLellan remarked that such communities would foster coordinated programs among multiple groups—parents, schools, law enforcement, and local governments, for example—with the goal of surrounding young people with “relevant, age appropriate messages and interventions that span the timeframe of risk.”

—-> To read the rest of the article, please go to http://www.behavioral.net/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=64D490AC6A7D4FE1AEB453627F1A4A32&tier=4&id=35A0252458974B1C85F4991BB1861763

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