Current and Future Workforce Issues in Substance Abuse Prevention and Early Intervention in the Workplace

There are numerous reports of impending substance abuse prevention workforce shortages. It is more difficult to find qualified personnel to fill the many openings especially those servicing ATOD issues of the aging employee and incoming young adults. The ATOD workplace prevention field is addressing a number of issues including defining core competencies, developing competency-based education and credentialing, ability to evolve to rapidly changing prevention and early intervention environment including policies, practices, and substances. In several health-related service fields, there are larger numbers of employees recruited globally having a wide range of educational backgrounds and credentials as well as diverse cultural and ethnic variations in approaches and practices. ATOD workplace practitioners may also face this trend. This presentation will review major demographic changes in workplace and the ATOD prevention workforce and discuss current workforce training, technological and educational issues impacting on future trends in the workforce field including those in internal/external Employee Assistance Programs (EAP), health/wellness programs, and other human resource (HR) or private security related personnel providing a wide range of ATOD prevention/early intervention services.