Date: October 6, 2021		Format: Learning Lab
Time: 1 PM—2:30 PM ET		Cost: FREE

COURSE DESCRIPTION

As our country continues to grapple with the Covid-19 pandemic, communities are experiencing emerging and worsening substance misuse problems relating to it. Many of these issues—for example, easing retail restrictions for alcohol and marijuana and the devastating rise in fatal opioid overdoses nationally—we are aware of it. But, many we are not, in part because the pandemic has hindered our ability to collect data to better understand what is happening in our communities. We as prevention practitioners need to have data to tell the story of how the pandemic has affected substance misuse in our communities, and to use that data to bring partners to the table to plan, implement and support strategies to meet these new challenges.

This four-part virtual learning event series, featuring two webinars and two interactive “learning labs”, will explore finding, collecting, understanding and, ultimately, using data to tell your community’s story through the covid-19 pandemic. It will provide you with the tools necessary to locate existing substance misuse-related data, fill in data gaps with local data collection, and troubleshoot issues relating to data quality. It will also highlight the importance of using data to create a compelling narrative about your community’s experience, interpreting data appropriately and framing it as a story that will resonate with your key stakeholders and the public alike. During the learning lab sessions, participants will have the opportunity to apply the information shared during the webinar sessions through hands-on activities and case study examples.

*Be sure to register for each part you wish to attend. You will need to register for the corresponding webinar separately.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Participants will increase their knowledge of how to identify emerging trends in substance use since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
• Discuss strategies for collecting substance use data and for filling data gaps caused by COVID-19
• Generate a list of solutions to common issues associated with the quality of collected data

LEARNING LAB FACILITATORS: 

Josh Esrick, Clare Neary, Ivy Jones-Turner, Cory Morton, and Jessica Goldberg