Evaluating environmental strategies for substance abuse prevention: Description of a process measure and its use in improving strategy implementation

Increasingly, coalitions across the nation are mounting environmental strategies for substance abuse prevention. Unfortunately, prevention practitioners who have decades of experience with curricular approaches to prevention mounted in schools often lack the capacity to implement environmental strategies according to best practices. Further, the evaluation of environmental strategies is challenged by a lack of standardized measures. To meet both challenges simultaneously, we developed an environmental strategies process measure that also serves as an implementation guide and a prompt for technical assistance. The Monthly Environmental Strategies Tracking Interview (MESTI) is a monthly structured interview comprised of both quantitative and qualitative questions regarding the implementation of planned media, policy, and enforcement strategies for the prevention of alcohol or illicit drug abuse by municipal level coalitions funded by through a Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant (SPF SIG). We based the MESTI on a literature review of research and best practices for environmental strategies for substance abuse prevention. Local evaluators conduct monthly MESTI interviews with funded communities and can use the data to prompt the community to request and tailor technical assistance. Selected data are reported to the State project manager for monitoring and to a state level Training and Technical Assistance Center for use in determining technical assistance needs. This session will describe the rationale for and development of the MESTI, present sample quantitative and qualitative data collected, and explore benefits and challenges of the instrument's usage. A copy of the MESTI will be available to session participants.