Sustainability, as it relates to substance use prevention, refers to being able to continue to implement a program with fidelity and efficacy over time and perhaps across settings.
If a drug prevention program isn’t sustained, its initial effects will eventually dissipate.
Substance use prevention programs can be sustained by three strategies: 1) building community ownership, 2) using practical evidence-based programs, and 3) planning for sustainability early.
Below is a description of each of these strategies for ensuring sustainability of your drug prevention program.
Building Community Ownership
Programs last longer when the community is involved in planning, decision‑making, and implementation. This is the coalition strategy.
Engaging residents, schools, faith groups, and local organizations helps ensure the program reflects real needs of the community and gains long‑term support.
Collaborate with schools, health departments, nonprofits, and law enforcement.
Partnerships distribute workload, create shared responsibility, and are essential for developing critical community awareness and broadening participation.
Using Practical Evidence-Based Programs
Using proven strategies increases effectiveness and makes funders more willing to support the program over time.
Federal agencies like SAMHSA emphasize evidence‑based approaches as a foundation for sustainability.
Using evidence-based programs that are practical in terms of being brief and easy to implement and require limited time to get trained are key to increasing the number of facilitators implementing a program over time and across settings.
The single-session evidence-based SPORT (Substance Prevention Optimizing Resiliency Training) Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) program which takes just 1-2 hours to become certified to implement is an example of a practical prevention intervention.
In addition, because SPORT PPW integrates the promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviors and positive future self-images, along with substance use prevention messages, it is more salient and interesting to youth, families and funders, along with being more inclusive of protective factors linked to mental and physical wellbeing, performance and happiness.
Plan for Sustainability Early
Plan ahead by applying for and combining grants, local government support, private donations, and in‑kind contributions. For example, Prevention Plus Wellness is currently offering a Grant Matching Program to expand your prevention reach and sustainability. Evidence‑based programs like those from PPW are more competitive for funding than strategies not supported by theory and research.
Another way to plan early for sustainability is to train and equip multiple, diverse school and community members, peer leaders, and volunteers with skills to implement and oversee the program even if, or perhaps when, leadership and staff changes.
Devise a strategy for embedding prevention activities into schools, clinics, and community centers so they become part of routine operations rather than stand-alone projects.
Don’t forget to plan procedures to assess and monitor data evaluating program implementation quality and outcomes to demonstrate success, identify gaps, and strengthen funding proposals.
Some evidence-based programs, like Prevention Plus Wellness interventions, include free built-in online surveys for easily collecting and reviewing data evaluating program quality and efficacy both short and longer-term.