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Abstract
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The investment in community coalitions as mechanisms for the prevention of alcohol, tobacco and other drug (ATOD) abuse has spawned a multitude of multi-faceted and complex strategies in communities across this nation. Evaluations of these community-based efforts are also multifaceted, employing a mix of qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Hansen and Kaftarian (1994) classified outcome and impact evaluation techniques utilized by 144 of the community partnerships funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP). Their synthesis produced a myriad of data collection approaches that could be useful to any community prevention coalition depending upon its specific activities and desired outcomes.
In this article, the author summarizes seven years of ATOD prevention partnership and coalition evaluation experience featuring one particularly potent type of data for the evaluation of community prevention efforts--extant data from state and local agency reporting systems that in some way reflect the substance abuse problem in that community. These community indicators of substance abuse have been studied by CSAP (ISA Associates, 1992), used by an increasing number of community coalitions (Gabriel, 1994) and have been the focus of a concerted technical assistance effort funded by the Robert Wood Johnson foundation (Join Together, 1995).
While ubiquitous and versatile, community indicators must be interpreted with care if they are to be used for evaluation purposes. While their public availablity lend themselves to study over time, changes in the demographics of the community or the characteristics of the reporting system must be carefully considered before inferences are made. They are at best blunt indicators of the effects of a specific prevention strategy, but are typically excellent indicators of the overall health and performance of a community system.
This article features examples of community indicators of substance abuse derived from institutionalized reporting systems in law enforcement, health care, justice, education and the business community served by the Regional Drug Initiative prevention coalition in Portland, Oregon. They include extractions from national studies (the Drug Use Forecasting System) as well as state monitoring systems and local data collection efforts. Specific uses of these data within this particular community context are provided to illustrate the range of applications a set of community indicators can represent in a community-based ATOD prevention effort. |