December 20, 2023, Durham, NC – iRT Research Scientist Dr. Rebecca Stelter will present at SAMHSA’s 20th Prevention Day gathering at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland on January 29, 2024. SAMHSA’s Prevention Day is the largest annual, national event dedicated to advancing substance misuse prevention. The 20th annual Prevention Day will take place in conjunction with CADCA’s National Leadership Forum and will provide opportunities for substance use prevention professionals, researchers, and advocates to share current developments and discuss future research and innovations in substance misuse prevention.

Dr. Stelter will lead a live session entitled Sober lives, Safer roads: Innovations in Preventing Substance Use and Impaired Driving Among Youth at this year’s event to share key facts about the problem of substance use and impaired driving among youth, discuss the research supporting effective strategies for preventing substance use and impaired driving, and describe effective educational strategies to engage teens and prevent substance use and impaired driving. Traffic fatalities are one of the leading causes of adolescent death and injury, and traffic fatalities are often related to substance use. During this session, Stelter will highlight important findings from recent research about drug- and alcohol- impaired driving among youth, and session attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the development and implementation of an innovative, evidence-based impaired driving prevention program, Plan My Ride.

Plan My Ride is an asynchronous, web-based program, which can be accessed on computer or mobile devices, designed to help adolescents and young adults learn and practice important planning, social, and communication skills to avoid substance use and driving while distracted or impaired. During her presentation, Stelter will outline Plan My Ride’s unique approach to substance use and impaired driving prevention: using highly interactive eLearning features, such as virtual reality-based role-playing scenarios, videos, animations, and review activities, to engage young drivers in substance use and impaired driving prevention. Plan My Ride goes beyond educating drivers about the dangers of distracted and impaired driving by additionally allowing trainees to practice making decisions to avoid impaired driving and apply skills they have learned in a safe, realistic virtual environment.

Stelter will discuss how SAMHSA’s research-based Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) was used to develop the Plan My Ride program in an effective, data-driven way to ensure program effectiveness and describe strategies iRT used to incorporate youth feedback in program development to prioritize accessibility, diversity, and inclusion. In addition, attendees will be able to hear important findings from the implementation of the Plan My Ride program and tips for prevention professionals who are looking to implement impaired driving or substance use interventions in their communities.

Interested in attending this presentation to learn more about impaired driving prevention strategies and the Plan My Ride program? Click here to register for the event.