A cautionary tale: Pandemic survival lessons to sustain teen substance use prevention coalitions

ABSTRACT

Community coalitions have the potential to improve teen health outcomes by reducing risk and reinforcing protective factors across multiple community systems to mitigate teen pregnancy, violence, suicide, and teen substance use. This prevention work is achieved by developing multipronged action plans and employing community-level interventions to influence policies, systems, and environments in which youth live, learn, and play. In Washington State, nearly 100 coalitions target the complex issue of teen substance use prevention. These coalitions are representative of the diversity of community stakeholders for the prevention of teen substance use. An essential partnership and contractual requirement is a school-coalition agreement to address teen substance use. Working cooperatively, coalitions leverage resources and efforts to affect teen behavioral health by planning, implementing, and evaluating prevention efforts across multiple community systems. Every sector of the community has been disrupted by COVID-19, which has implications for teen substance use prevention. This explanatory mixed-methods phenomenological study explored how the pandemic affected community sectors, what barriers or challenges COVID-19 presented, and what adaptations to programs and service delivery were made to continue teen substance use prevention work. Comprehensive effects across 11 of 12 community sectors were reported, triggering shifts in priorities and negatively affecting morale. Transportation was an identified geographical barrier, while workforce issues were universally challenging regardless of location in the state. Technological infrastructure and digital literacy were highlighted as critical barriers to the successful implementation of coalition prevention interventions and detracted from the day-to-day functioning of coalitions. Deteriorating psychosocial health resulting from sustained uncertainty about the pandemic was compounded by contentious political discourse and division about infection mitigation requirements. Increased use of virtual platforms, new and diversified stakeholder relationships, and innovative community action methods advanced the work of teen substance use prevention despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)