National Prevention Week: Monday's topic

SAMHSA’s National Prevention Week, May 8 – 14, 2022, brings together communities and organizations to raise awareness about the importance of substance use prevention and positive mental health. Each day of NPW focuses on a different substance use and mental health topic.

The topic for Monday, May 8, is Strengthening Community Resilience: Substance Misuse and Overdose Prevention.

In 2021, the number of overdose deaths in the United States surpassed 100,000. Among these, over 75,000 were attributed to opioid misuse. Substance misuse and overdose can be addressed through prevention strategies that build community resilience by increasing protective factors and decreasing risk factors. Protective factors are characteristics that reduce the likelihood of negative outcomes, while risk factors are characteristics that are associated with negative outcomes. You can learn more about risk and protective factors by watching this, short video. While you’re at it, check out this Ted Talk (Building Resilient Communities: A Moral Responsibility) to learn how one community successfully strengthened its resilience.