The links below contained detailed information for the upcoming 2017 Safe States Alliance Annual Meeting, taking place September 12-14, 2017 in Aurora, Colorado.
Please note:
- A total of five concurrent sessions will take place during the Annual Meeting, and there will be up to five breakouts occurring simultaneously during each of those concurrent sessions. Within each breakout, there will be up to four presentations that take place.
- This online system does not allow us to embed the individual presentations within each breakout. Please note the session presentations listed under each Concurrent Breakout title for associated content.
- The on-site mobile app WILL embed these sessions for ease of use.
- A printable, detailed agenda can be found on the 2017 Annual Meeting website.
- If you have any questions, please contact info@safestates.org
- All session times and locations are tentative and subject to change. Safe States will continue to update these details as changes take place.
Getting the (Prevention) Party Started: Leveraging Existing Partnerships to Address Excessive Alcohol Use as a Shared Injury and Violence Risk Factor in Colorado
Learning Objectives
In this session, participants will:
- Describe the relationship between excessive alcohol use and injury and violence outcomes.
- Identify key partners in their state who can collaborate to support excessive alcohol use prevention as part of comprehensive injury and violence prevention.
- List population-level, evidence-based strategies to address excessive alcohol use as a risk factor for injury and violence.
Statement of Purpose
Excessive alcohol use is a cross-cutting risk factor for a number of outcomes related to injury and violence, including motor vehicle crashes, falls, drowning, homicide, suicide, intimate partner violence, and sexual assault. In Colorado, one in seven deaths among working-age adults can be attributed to excessive alcohol use and, for each death due to excessive drinking, an individual’s life is cut short by an average of 29 years. Colorado’s violence and injury prevention branch has prioritized increasing the state’s alcohol epidemiology capacity to address excessive alcohol use and related harms through the implementation of evidence-based strategies.
Methods/Approach
In order to decrease alcohol-related harms, such as injuries and violence, Colorado is working to shift public health practice to address alcohol as a shared risk factor. Colorado identified established state-level groups as well as internal and external grantees that prioritized excessive alcohol use, alcohol-related harms, or substance use as a health outcome of focus. The alcohol epidemiologist used this information to invest time in establishing a role with these collaborative groups.
Results
Colorado has developed strategic opportunities with existing multi-disciplinary partnerships to build support and address excessive alcohol use through data-driven, population-level strategies. As in other states, partners exist where alcohol prevention is aligned with current program goals and outcomes. A few key partners in Colorado include the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funded State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) funded motor vehicle program staff and grantees, and Communities that Care (CTC) grantees.
Conclusions & Significance to the Field
Collaborative approaches are necessary to implement alcohol prevention strategies at the societal level to make the largest impact. The development of relationships in Colorado was critical to the increased dissemination and utilization of alcohol surveillance data to inform evidence-based strategy selection. Attendees will learn how to leverage multi-disciplinary partnerships to address excessive alcohol use as a risk factor for injury and violence prevention.
Presenters
Kacy Crawford, MPH, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Biography
Kacy Crawford is the Alcohol Epidemiologist at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and is working to increase the dissemination and utilization of alcohol surveillance data to inform the implementation of evidence-based strategies to address excessive alcohol use and related harms across the state. Prior to her work at CDPHE, Kacy was a Researcher for OMNI Institute as the team lead for multiple state and community-level public health projects focused on practice-based epidemiology and evaluation. Kacy received her Master of Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology from the Colorado School of Public Health and is a member of both the Colorado Public Health Association and the American Public Health Association.