EDUCATION AND PREVENTION

Preventing people from developing a substance use disorder is one of the most effective ways to decrease the number of substance-involved deaths in the long term. More specifically, preventing substance use among youth is critical to ending the substance use crisis. Education can help community members of all generations understand the risks of substance use and empower them to make personal decisions with health and safety in mind. It is important to ensure that educational efforts are accessible to residents of communities with different cultures, languages, and ethnic backgrounds in order to achieve equity. A variety of organizations including PreventEd, BJC School Outreach and Youth Development, the Bosnian Opioid Project, and several community-level prevention coalitions promote prevention messages both in schools and among the wider population.

Awareness campaigns can lessen the stigma around SUD, helping people understand that SUD is a disease and not a character flaw or moral failing. Ultimately, education and prevention efforts aim to reduce the number of people who begin using substances and encourage people who struggle with unhealthy substance use to seek help earlier.

Education, prevention, and awareness efforts should be shaped to meet the specific needs of the most impacted communities. Black men ages 18 to 35 are experiencing fatal overdoses at disproportionately high rates. Working with young Black men to understand their needs and the factors that put them at risk is critical to providing information and resources to meaningfully reduce risk and affect change. The initiatives below aim to strengthen current efforts and reach new audiences with education and prevention messages.

h Actions to be implemented by the Saint Louis County Department of Public Health with current resources.

„ Actions to be implemented by partners with current resources.

® Opportunities dependent on legislation, additional funding, capacity, or new commitments.