Strengthening community capacity to prevent underage drinking with new technologies

As a major risk factor for a number of negative health outcomes, underage drinking is commonly recognized as one of the prime behavioral health issues affecting our youth today. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) aims to prevent and reduce the prevalence of underage alcohol use. Through the use of emerging technologies, SAMHSA has further advanced UAD underage drinking prevention initiatives by developing and incorporating Web 2.0 technologies, such as widgets, interactive applications, and social media, to increase awareness, engage and mobilize various audiences, and strengthen the capacity of communities to actively participate in underage drinking prevention initiatives. These technologies have provided an additional avenue for audiences to receive information, resources, training, and technical assistance for underage drinking prevention initiatives and activities. Furthermore, SAMHSA uses technological processes to evaluate and capture outcomes from underage drinking initiatives. These processes allow program administrators and community-based organizations to collaboratively focus on attaining shared goals and program purposes, identifying and comparing effective practices, and improving service delivery. As technology continues to evolve, SAMHSA will continue to integrate the latest advancements into and develop new technologies for use in underage drinking prevention activities.