Determining how to maintain your effective prevention efforts and positive outcomes are critical activities for substance misuse prevention professionals. But, it is not always clear what should be sustained and it can be even more challenging to figure out how to go about doing it. Research on sustainability has identified securing resources, implementing effective processes, and building organizational and community capacity as necessary conditions for affecting positive and lasting community change. And, meaningful engagement of a variety of partners, through strategic relationship building that includes efforts beyond the ‘usual suspects’, is the connective tissue enabling us to carry out our work in increasingly equitable and sustainable ways.
This two-part, virtual learning series will provide practitioners with an approach for sustainability that includes focusing on maintaining positive outcomes, effective processes and interventions that work. Participants will have the opportunity to discuss challenges to advancing sustainability efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, and explore the role of partnerships in sustaining prevention efforts along with best practices for partner engagement. Participants will be encouraged to share their successes and challenges related to working with partners to sustain initiatives and will collectively explore potential solutions.