COMMUNITY-BASED APPROACHES FOR THE PREVENTION OF ALCOHOL, TOBACCO, AND OTHER DRUG-USE

This paper summarizes what is known about community-based approaches f or the prevention of ATOD problems and how the current practices in th e field reflect these approaches. The first section of the chapter pro vides a brief summary of events early in this century when community-b ased approaches were central to addressing alcohol and other public he alth problems. The second section contains an overview of current rese arch and empirical findings that yield consensus as to what conceptual ly and in practice constitutes a comprehensive, community-based preven tion program for the prevention of ATOD problems. The third section re views the literature of existing programs to assess the extent to whic h they include the salient elements and employ interventions determine d to be fundamental to comprehensive community-based prevention progra ms. The final section discusses some of the challenges that confront r esearchers and practitioners when developing prevention initiatives an d programs in high-risk environments.