Representing a suite of prevention products hosted on the Prevention Central website (www.PreventionCentral.net), researchers from innovation Research & Training (iRT) attended the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) National Leadership Forum in National Harbor, MD, from February 4th to 7th, 2019.

This Forum brought together thousands of prevention professionals from across the country, all dedicated to learning about relevant research and effective strategies to fight substance abuse. iRT has attended and presented at CADCA’s annual and midyear conferences for years; we’re always excited to meet our peers, who share our commitment to finding innovative solutions to this pressing problem.

At this year’s Forum, we shared the results of our research and development work creating innovative, evidence-based programs using mindfulness, media literacy education, and mentoring programs to prevent substance abuse.

In addition, we were pleased to release our new evidence-based, community-based strategies to combat drugged driving.

Visitors to our exhibit table were excited by iRT’s commitment to creating and disseminating evidence-based programs. In fact, all of iRT’s programs are always research- and practice informed by a team of multidisciplinary professionals, as well as rigorously evaluated. Many visitors to our table mentioned that they needed assistance finding evidence-based solutions and writing grants for their programs. iRT is happy to help!

At the North Carolina breakout meeting held on Tuesday evening, iRT researchers had the privilege of learning about the wide range of substance abuse prevention strategies being implemented across the state.

“There were many more people from our state there than in previous years,” said Dr. Rebecca Stelter. “Lots of people and organizations in our state are now working in this area.”

In addition to collaborative meetings, CADCA hosts presentations from experts eager to share the results of their work with others. Dr. Wilson Compton, Deputy Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), spoke about the ways marijuana use has changed over the years and mentioned several times that marijuana use can impair driving. The resources and training available from Drugged Driving Resources can help communities address many of the concerns raised by Dr. Compton.

To coincide with our presence at CADCA, we also launched a brand-new way to find the prevention program best suited to meet your needs: Prevention Central. A guide to all our prevention programs, this website is designed to help you find exactly what you’re looking for in just a few clicks. The website will also be updated with our webinar schedule, including a look at our substance abuse prevention programs that use a media literacy education approach on February 27, 2019.

Learning about all of iRT’s programs has never been easier.