The need for addressing both prevention and wellness in youth and adult programs, strategies, and policy has become abundantly clear.
Back in January of this year, Prevention Plus Wellness posted an article on “6 Steps for Integrating Wellness with Substance Use Prevention” in which we made the case for and describe how to integrate prevention with wellness: https://preventionpluswellness.com/blogs/news/6-steps-for-integrating-wellness-with-substance-use-prevention
Our CEO, Dr. Chudley Werch, PhD, also recently presented a 3-part webinar on “Integrating Substance Use Prevention with Wellness”: https://preventionpluswellness.com/pages/integrating-substance-use-prevention-with-wellness
Likewise, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has described the importance of promoting wellness for better behavioral and physical health: https://mfpcc.samhsa.gov/ENewsArticles/Article12b_2017.aspx
Further support for integrating prevention with wellness was presented in a study published in the Open Journal of Psychiatry (2021) which found that a brief, integrated health behavior change strategy was effective in improving wellbeing and health attitudes and achieving health goals across a variety of healthcare settings throughout Canada: https://www.scirp.org/journal/paperinformation.aspx?paperid=109024
Youth and family organizations such as the Boys & Girls Clubs of American and the YMCA of the USA have emphasized prevention with wellness promotion.
The Boys & Girls Clubs, for example, provides a number of health and wellness programs designed to develop young people’s capacity to engage in positive behaviors, avoid alcohol and drug use, and nurture their wellbeing: https://www.bgca.org/programs/health-wellness
Similarly, the YMCA offers healthy living programs and activities that promote overall wellbeing and positive youth development: https://www.ymca.org/what-we-do/healthy-living
Conclusion
The need for addressing both prevention and wellness in youth and adult programs, strategies, and policy has become increasingly clear.
The good news is that multiple agencies and organizations have addressed this need and provide resources to assist substance misuse prevention and health specialists and parents, including Prevention Plus Wellness, SAMHSA, the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, and the YMCA of the USA.