SEOW Deliverable Priorities (2020-2021)

The SEOW team is hoping to choose 2-3 deliverables to prioritize in the upcoming year and has brainstormed the following nine deliverable ideas below:

Community-Level Reporting Template
This will be a template report that CSBs or local communities could use to effectively share substance-related data. The template will have an accompanying guide to assist individuals in populating the template with information from the Virginia Social Indicator Dashboard (VASIS). The goal of this template is to provide CSBs and communities a tool they can use to help identify local needs and visually communicate areas of focus for substance prevention efforts.

Cost-Effectiveness of Prevention
This deliverable will engage in a cost-effectiveness analysis for behavioral health and substance use prevention programs using the literature and existing outcomes data. The analysis will examine effectiveness of prevention programs from both monetary and community benefit perspectives to emphasize the value of prevention activities. This deliverable could be shared with legislators and communities to advocate for investing in prevention funding.

COVID-19 Impacts Report
As we all know, COVID-19 has affected many areas of health and wellness beyond the coronavirus itself. Health data sources are slowly beginning to show these effects. This report will look into emerging behavioral health and substance use disorder impacts in 2020 data. Drawing from the knowledge and expertise of SEOW members, this document will examine preliminary trends and additional trends experts anticipate will emerge in future data collection periods. The report will provide insights that prevention and treatment/recovery fields can draw from to prepare to address current and future substance use and behavioral health needs.

Inventory of Virginia's Policies & Prevention Strategies to Address Opioid Misuse
This deliverable will use literature to outline the key policies and prevention strategies that have been shown to reduce opioid misuse in states and communities across the U.S. Policies and strategies found to reduce misuse of opioids will be included in this deliverable and the state of Virginia will be examined to see which policies and strategies are and are not utilized by the state. This deliverable could be used to identify opportunities for effective policy or strategy changes.

Marijuana and Legalization: What Virginia Should Expect
With the recent decriminalization and pending legalization of marijuana in Virginia, it is a relevant time to inform health organizations, providers, and the public on the effects of marijuana legalization. This report can include information on what marijuana is, how it influences the body, and provide information on how legalization in other states has impacted the behavioral health and substance use landscape. It can also highlight what prevention and intervention efforts already exist to address marijuana use within Virginia, and what Virginia should aim to have in place should legalization occur.

Methamphetamine/Stimulants Brief
Use of methamphetamine and other stimulants are on the rise and this is reflected in recent Virginia substance use indicators, including fatal overdoses from stimulants. This is also a national trend and the new round of State Opioid Response funding (beginning October 2020) has added stimulants as a target substance to be addressed with grant funding. This deliverable would describe the recent trends in stimulant use and what Virginia is doing to address these increases, such as the strategies covered by the expansion of the SOR grant. This deliverable would serve as an information guide to ensure relevant stakeholders in the behavioral health and substance use fields are aware of the emerging need and strategies to address stimulant use.

Prevention, Treatment, and Recovery: Who is missing?
This deliverable will explore substance use and needs across Virginia, with a focus on at-risk subpopulations and populations that are underrepresented as recipients of substance-related services. The deliverable will explore different limitations and barriers regarding substance use prevention, treatment, and recovery. This deliverable could be used to emphasize the need for different strategies and increased funding to reach these populations.

Tobacco Prevention Data, Strategies, and Policies
This deliverable will examine the extensive strategies implemented to date to address tobacco use and availability in Virginia communities. Capitalizing on the rich data collected by CSBs for the Counter Tools initiatives, this deliverable will examine trends over the past several years as well as comparisons to advancements made in other states. In addition, this deliverable will outline effective tobacco prevention policies and how they could benefit Virginia's tobacco use rates. This deliverable could be used as a summary of prevention successes to date and a roadmap for future prevention initiatives.

Youth Substance Use Trends
This deliverable will examine youth substance use trends across the state using Virginia Youth Survey 2019 data and previous years' data. The deliverable will also look at risk and protective factors and national data to paint a comprehensive picture of youth substance use and its context. This deliverable could be used to highlight the importance of prevention programs and addressing risk and protective factors among youth.