UHS unit hosts state substance abuse prevention conference

After a seven-year hiatus, the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Resources, a unit of University Health Services (UHS), will again host the Wisconsin State Prevention Conference.

The meeting will be held at Hotel Mead and Conference Center, Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., on Aug. 9-12.

Featured keynote speaker Beverly Watts Davis, the director of the National Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, will address “Weaving a Tapestry of Health: Collaborating Among Substance Abuse Prevention, Mental Health Promotion and Tobacco Control.”

Richard Yoast, director of the American Medical Association‘s Alcohol and Drug Division, and Julia Sherman of the Center for Alcohol Marketing and Youth at Georgetown University also will address the conference.

“We are very excited about the level of support for the re-initiation of a statewide prevention conference,” says conference organizer Kathryn Wolf, director of the Wisconsin Clearinghouse. “So many private and public agencies throughout the state and nation have graciously provided funding and support for the conference. In return, we are proud to provide a conference of such high caliber. This kind of collaboration and training will enhance the effectiveness of the prevention field. We are thrilled to be the catalyst.”

Mental health, substance abuse and tobacco control professionals will attend this research-based gathering, which focuses on the dissemination of culturally specific and culturally sensitive best practice standards and national model programs in the prevention field, with a special emphasis on Native American issues, in respect of their unique status as sovereign nations in Wisconsin.

Environmental strategies will be featured. These strategies reduce underage drinking and tobacco use – and effect many other behavior changes – through social norms change, policy development and engagement of community members.

The conference is co-sponsored by more than 50 national, state and local organizations, including the state Department of Health and Family Services, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Public Instruction and numerous federal agencies. It was developed by the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Resources.

For more information about the conference, call Kathryn Wolf at (608) 263-6886 or (608) 516-1595, or visit the Wisconsin Clearinghouse for Prevention Resources website.