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A population that has been chosen by the ASAP Center for focused efforts because of unique prevention needs or opportunities.
Faith communities play a unique role in the lives of individuals and families. They have resources that can be powerful influences to prevent high-risk use of alcohol and other drugs, encourage intervention, and support recovery. The ASAP Center helps faith communities find, develop, and implement substance abuse prevention activities appropriate for their spiritual beliefs, congregations, and communities.
The ASAP Center is a member of Reviving the Human Spirit (RTHS), a group of local organizations who are committed to helping faith communities prevent and reduce alcohol and other drug use problems among the people they serve and within their communities.
Reviving the Human Spirit, a Faith Community Initiative
The ASAP Center is a member of Reviving the Human Spirit (RTHS), a collaborative, multi-denominational support network that brings together faith leaders, lay people, and prevention and treatment professionals to work together to use evidence-based practices to prevent, intervene in, and support recovery from alcohol and other drug problems.
RTHS is not a program, but rather a community approach that connects faith communities with tools and resources. RTHS provides a menu of options, including evidence-based prevention approaches, materials and libraries, training opportunities, connections to other resources, and opportunities to learn from other faith communities.
- Through Congregational Substance Abuse Team Ministry, RTHS helps congregations build teams to address substance abuse and provides ongoing support, training, resources, referrals, and consultation. RTHS uses the nationally recognized Congregational Substance Abuse Team Ministry model developed by Faith Partners.
- RTHS’ Faith Leader Academy is designed to support clergy and other faith leaders in their work to address alcohol and other drug problems. Topics covered include prevention, intervention, recovery support, and family support for people affected by alcohol and other drug use.
- Faith Symposium, a event that brings together leaders from faith communities throughout the region to share their experience providing prevention, intervention, and recovery support ministries. A resource fair is also provided.
With the dramatic rise in the Hispanic/Latino population in the Greater Cincinnati region have come opportunities and problems. Many Hispanics are not aware of the resources available to help them, and some are at high risk for problems associated with substance abuse. The ASAP Center helps the Hispanic/Latino community take advantage of opportunities to strengthen their community and prevent alcohol and other drug problems.
Hispanic and Latino adolescent females are shown to have substantial increased risk of substance abuse. To help prevent this abuse, the ASAP Center connects people in the Greater Cincinnati region to ¡Soy Unica! ¡Soy Latina!, a nationally recognized initiative by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
The group’s purpose is to connect to each other and to the Hispanic community to implement effective prevention activities and increase protective factors. The ASAP Center facilitates meetings for Abriendo Puertas, coordinates projects and provides training and technical assistance.
ASAP has a "free from substance abuse" group in the Hispanic community, Abriendo Puertas - Opening Doors to life free from substance abuse for the Hispanic/Latino community. Click here to view their web page.
Rural communities have access to fewer resources for substance abuse prevention than suburban or urban areas. Yet, many people in rural communities see the need for prevention and want to act. Rural communities have unique problems and solutions regarding substance use, and the ASAP Center works with these communities to address their problems in ways that make sense for their culture and community.
The ASAP Center works directly with residents of rural communities to tailor substance abuse prevention training to their needs. We take the training and resources to them, rather than making them come to us. We develop relationships and bring people with common interests together to link communities. By sharing scarce resources across community and county lines, we can build more capacity. For example, the ASAP Center awarded a mini-grant to the Pendleton County Homemakers’ Association to develop community activities around developmental asset building, an evidence-based practice.
Alcohol and medication misuse and mental health problems can be significant issues for older adults. Our growing life expectancy, coupled with the aging of the "baby boom" generation, make the need to address these issues more critical than ever before.
Because prevention has historically been focused on young people, there are no evidence-based prevention programs for older adults. The ASAP Center is working to increase prevention activities for older adults by forming a workgroup of key leaders from the tri-state who have an interest in this issue. This workgroup will:
- provide or encourage community education and awareness of alcohol and other drug prevention and older adults;
- identify needs and prevention and early intervention opportunities;
- learn about existing activities, programs, and approaches;
- support community members as they implement prevention and early intervention activities; and
- encourage implementation of prevention and early intervention efforts by prevention and substance use disorder treatment professionals.