Data-Driven Prioritization and Decision-Making: The North Carolina SPF SIG Experience

The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Strategic Prevention Frame (SPF) includes five steps designed to engage States and local communities in a data-guided process to enhance prevention practice and reduce substance-related consequences and associated consumption patterns. The first step in this approach requires a needs assessment conducted by a State Epidemiological Workgroup (SEW). Specifically, the SEW was tasked to 1) collect and analyze data to assess statewide and community-specific needs and set priorities, 2) provide technical assistance to communities on determining local resources and needs, 3) help the State collect and report data on SPF-SIG project to SAMHSA/CSAP, and 4) identify data gaps and make recommendations for ongoing data monitoring. This presentation describes North Carolina's interpretation and conduct of the epidemiological process and how the SEW developed and implemented a numeric algorithm to select six potential priority issues including 1) driving while impaired—disposed cases, 2) total traffic deaths that were alcohol-related, 3) youth in Grades K through 12 in possession of a controlled substance in violation of the law, 4) adults aged 18 or older arrested for drug law violations, 5) drug overdose mortality, and 6) tobacco-related mortality. This presentation also describes the application of a second set of more subjective criteria applied to narrow the selection to a single priority area. Finally, the presentation will describe a standardized data analytic process for selecting specific communities to address the States priority issue and emergent realities and challenges in applying a data guided approach to prevention planning.