Webinar: Tuesday, March 19, 2024

1:00 PM – 2:30 PM (EST)

Substance misuse prevention problems are adaptive challenges – that is, complex and evolving problems that require multifaceted and dynamic solutions. While the focus addressing substance misuse prevention problems is essential, it is by identifying and working through the risk and protective factors that influence those problems that prevention practitioners can most effectively bring about positive change. But, what are these factors and how do we leverage them to strengthen our prevention efforts? Join us for this interactive, three-part webinar series to explore everything you ever needed to know about risk and protective factors.

Session one, Risk and Protective Factors 101, will introduce risk and protective factor theory, including definitions and key characteristics, and will present a process for identifying the factors that are most relevant to your community’s priority problems.

Learning Objectives Session 1:

• Define key characteristics of risk and protective factors
• Describe the relationship between a community’s priority substance misuse problems and the risk and protective factors that influence them
• Identify steps in the process of identifying risk and protective factors that are most relevant in your community

Jess Goldberg is a training and technical assistance specialist with Education Development Center. For more than 15 years, Jess has specialized in building capacity to improve behavioral health at the national, state, regional and local levels. Her areas of expertise include preventing youth substance use; promoting cross-sector collaborations; addressing health disparities; strategic planning, logic model development, and sustainability planning. Jess holds an MSW and MPH from Boston University, and is a Certified Prevention Specialist

Tracy Desovich, MPH, CPS - Tracy has over 30 years of experience in substance abuse prevention and public health. Her experience includes developing, implementing, and evaluating prevention services for students at the University of Connecticut and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Her expertise includes community health assessment, planning, organizing and evaluation, leadership development, utilizing data to mobilize change, social norms marketing and healthy communities’ principles.