Specialty Track 4: Environment-Based Prevention

Training Hours
69 training hours

This track reviews the science behind effective environment-based prevention interventions and policies – which focus on community-wide strategies to prevent tobacco and alcohol misuse; and illegal drug trafficking and use in various settings and the methods used to identify and successfully implement these interventions. It also provides experiential learning in planning for and implementing environmental policy changes and other community-wide substance use prevention efforts. There are seven courses in this track.

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UPC 41: Description of the Environmental Approach

This course examines the components of the Environment-based Intervention (EI) track, planning framework, and Etiology Model. It also provides an opportunity to think strategically about how to plan interventions that will last, and reflect the specific culture(s) of an individual’s community.

UPC 42: Assessment of Geographic Area and Need for Environmental Interventions

This course explains how to do an assessment of the local community including collection and use of the assessment data, define the geographic area or community and identify the specific environments within the community where alcohol, tobacco and other substances are sold, purchased and used. It also examines how to collect and use statistical data to describe the extent and nature of substance use and related consequences.

UPC 43: Strategically Build Partnerships to Address Needs - Building a Prevention Team

The course describes the process of building partnerships with other organisations, agencies and individuals in the local community to address substance use prevention needs by building a prevention team representing organizations and groups such as businesses, law enforcement and other governmental agencies, the health care community, and educational institutions.

UPC 44: Evidence-Based Environmental Interventions and Policies

This course examines some evidence-based environmental substance use prevention strategies to address substance use and related problems in the local community or country, and how they can affect substance use availability and norms through regulations and enforcement. It also explains how to identify and implement appropriate environmental interventions.

UPC 45: Policy Advocacy

This course explains the steps involved in policy

UPC 46: Development of a Community Strategic Environmental Prevention Plan

This course discusses the process for the development of a comprehensive community environmental prevention action plan that includes developing a logic model indicating environmental intervention strategies and how they will impact targeted outcomes, identifying and discussing steps involved in each environmental intervention strategy, and anticipating challenges and how to overcome them.

UPC 47: Monitoring and Evaluation

This course examines the definitions and purposes of monitoring and evaluation, use of assessment data to establish baseline, target outcomes, and monitor intervention effects, steps for conducting a process evaluation to determine how well an intervention is implemented, and how to use data for ongoing surveillance and writing an evaluation report.