CONTENTS

About This Course

Table of Contents

1. An Introduction to Environmental Strategies
2. Types of Environmental Approaches
3. Putting Environmental Strategies To Work

Supplements
References
Resources

Environmental Strategies for Prevention
A Guide To Helping the Prevention Professional Work Effectively in the Community

Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol

A number of SAMHSA's Model Programs are based on environmental strategies to address the norms, regulations, and availability of alcohol and drugs related to underage substance abuse.

In the Model Program Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA), the community is not simply the site for the intervention, but the vehicle for change. ref Communities Mobilizing for Change on Alcohol (CMCA) is a community-organizing program designed to reduce adolescent (13 to 20 years old) access to alcohol by changing community policies and practices. Initiated in 1991, CMCA has proven that effectively limiting the access to alcohol to people under the legal drinking age not only directly reduces teen drinking, but also communicates a clear message to the community that underage drinking is inappropriate and unacceptable.

CMCA employs a range of social organizing techniques to address legal, institutional, social, and health issues in order to reduce youth alcohol use by eliminating illegal alcohol sales to youth by retailers and obstructing the provision of alcohol to youth by adults.

CMCA was developed and evaluated by the Alcohol Epidemiology Program at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health under the direction of Professor Alexander C. Wagenaar, who is now at the University of Florida College of Medicine.

Underage Drinking Problems

From the smallest towns to the nation's capital, there is growing awareness that alcohol use is a major health problem among underage drinkers. Over the years society has tried many approaches to prevent youth drinking, but many of these efforts have not worked. Many experts now believe the best approach is to focus on the public policies, social structures, and other dimensions of the physical, economic, and social environment contributing to youth drinking. ref