Prevention Programs
ADAS is committed to helping individuals, through education, to make positive changes that lead to healthy lifestyles. Services are provided, in fun and engaging ways, to community members of all ages and backgrounds. Prevention is process of creating change and improving our communities.
Our Prevention team provides trainings and presentations for schools and community groups. We also provide classroom based programs, such as those listed below. ADAS Prevention Staff act as the Student Assistance Program Liaisons. They participate on the school’s SAP team and provide identified students with screenings, referrals and education.
Read below to see what services we offer in our schools and in our communities. If you would like to schedule a Prevention activity or educational group for your community organization or business, please contact us today.
Elementary, Middle and High School Students
Provides elementary students, middle school/junior high students, and high school students with the necessary skills to resist social pressure to smoke, drink, and use drugs; helps them develop greater self-esteem, self-mastery, and self-confidence; enables children to effectively cope with social anxiety; increases their knowledge of the immediate consequences of substance abuse; and enhances cognitive and behavioral competency to reduce and prevent a variety of health risk behaviors.
Website: https://lifeskillstraining.com
Smoking Cessation – Youth Based
Youth Caught Using Substances
Smoking cessation program designed for youth 14 through 19 years of age based on social cognitive theory and incorporating training in self-management and stimulus control; social skills and social influence; stress management; relapse prevention; and techniques to manage nicotine withdrawal, weight management, and family and peer pressure. N-O-T consists of ten 50-minute group sessions recommended for weekly dosage for 10 consecutive weeks.
Website: https://www.lung.org
Elementary, Middle and High School Students
Too Good for Drugs (TGFD) is a school-based prevention program for kindergarten through 12th grade that builds on students’ resiliency by teaching them how to be socially competent and autonomous problem solvers. The program introduces and develops social and emotional skills for making healthy choices, building positive friendships, communicating effectively, and resisting peer pressure. TGFD teaches five essential social and emotional learning skills:
- Goal Setting
- Decision Making
- Bonding with pro-social others
- Identifying and managing emotions
- Communicating effectively
Website: https://toogoodprograms.org
Middle and High School Students
Clean Break is a docudrama intended to enhance adolescents’ understanding of the consequences and potential dangers associated with excessive gambling. An accompanying manual is offered for counselors who want to use the video as a more in-depth prevention tool. Many questions are included in order to stimulate discussion with participants, as well as information about youth gambling. Website:
COPE (Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment) Programs
Elementary, Middle, High School and College Students; Young Adults
COPE is a prevention program utilizing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy skills building approach that includes reducing negative thoughts, increasing healthy behaviors, and improving communications and problem-solving skills. The goal of this educational program is to teach how to recognize negative thought patterns, and provide cognitive behavioral skills and techniques that can be useful in modifying negative thinking. This program comes in several versions. The manual-based 7-session programs are designed for children (ages 7 to 11), teens (ages 11 to 18), and young adults (ages 18 to 24). The programs can be delivered in K-12 schools, colleges/universities, primary care practices, and healthcare systems in either brief 25- to 30-minute sessions or more traditional 50-minute class sessions. The manual-based 15-session Healthy Lifestyles TEEN (Thinking, Emotions, Exercise, and Nutrition) program is designed for teens (13 to 18 years old) and builds upon the skills learned in the 7-Session Program by including sessions on healthy nutrition and physical activity. The program is designed to be integrated into a student’s health course or taught in group and individual sessions in primary care or specialty care settings. Outcomes from the program include higher academic performance, less alcohol use, less depression and greater healthy lifestyles behaviors.
Website: www.cope2thrive.com
Healthy Alternatives for Little Ones (HALO)
Preschool and Elementary School Students
HALO is an 8 to 12-unit holistic health and substance abuse prevention curriculum. HALO is designed to address risk and protective factors for substance abuse and other health behaviors by providing children with information on healthy choices. The evidence-based program aims to help children understand the complexities of “health” and “healthy choices” by putting these abstract concepts into concrete terms they can understand. The curriculum encourages healthy eating, exercise, and emotion recognition and educates children about the harmful effects of alcohol, and other drugs (ATOD) on the body. HALO provides learning opportunities for children through teacher-led, developmentally appropriate, and fun hands-on activities that involve educational songs, videos, group activities, and books. Parental involvement is optional with introductory and unit-specific letters that encourage at home discussion and the practice of identifying and making healthy choices.
Website: http://haloforkids.org
Preschool, Elementary, Middle and High School Students
To teach young children positive life skills, focusing on self-esteem, social skills, peacemaking, tobacco and alcohol. Certain 6th -11th graders are trained and then take the On Applebee Pond Puppets into the classroom of pre-K -3rd grade classes. Skits are performed with assistance from an adult advisor.
Website: http://www.mercercountybhc.org/home-page/applebee-pond-2
Youth Gambling and Prevention Awareness: Level I
Elementary and Middle School Students (recommended for grades 4-7)
Teaches about the nature of gambling and the differences between games of skill and games of chance.
Introduces the concepts of luck, chance and the illusion of control. Discusses the myths and erroneous beliefs concerning gambling. Reinforce social skills and resistance to peer pressure. The entire presentation takes approximately 50 minutes, with recommendations for facilitator follow-ups. This program can include the use of The Amazing Chateau, interactive CD-ROM game.
Website: http://www.youthgambling.com
Youth Gambling and Prevention Awareness: Level II
High School Students (recommended for grades 8-12)
Teaches participants about youth gambling (participation, addiction, signs, and consequences). Discusses the concepts of luck, chance, probability and the illusion of control. Address erroneous beliefs in relation to the diverse forms of gambling. Differentiate between social gambling and gambling addictions. Informs participants about the signs of problem gambling, the consequences and the risks associated with excessive gambling. Highlight the available resources and treatment for gambling problems. Discusses the risks associated with poker playing and Internet gambling. This program takes about 50 minutes to complete, with recommendations for facilitator follow-ups. This program can include the use of the Hooked City, interactive CD-ROM game.
Website: http://www.youthgambling.com
Middle and High School Students
CATCH My Breath is a youth E-cigarette and JUUL prevention program developed by
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. The program provides up-to-date information to teachers, parents, and health professionals to equip students with the knowledge and skills they need to make informed decisions about the use of E-cigarettes, including JUUL devices. CATCH My Breath includes active student-centered learning facilitated by peer leaders. The program offers in-class activities, teacher education, online resources, and take-home materials for parents. The curriculum consists of 4 lessons at 30-40 minutes each. The program’s key learning objectives include: knowledge of E-cigarettes and potential harms, understanding and analyzing deceptive advertising techniques, developing and practicing socially acceptable refusal skills and practicing peer modeling techniques in small groups.
Website: https://catchinfo.org/modules/e-cigarettes
Elementary School Students
Celebrating Healthy Choices, a Too Good program from Mendez Foundation, can be used for Red Ribbon Week, National Prevention Week, or another special week-long celebration in schools for grades K to 5. Activities begin with a school-wide opening assembly introducing students to the concept of healthy choices. The opening assembly can be used to involve family and community by inviting community leaders, healthcare professionals, police officers, or athletes to share their inspirational stories about making healthy choices. Tuesday through Thursday, each grade level explores the fundamentals of a social skill to ready them to make healthy choices in life. Students learn a fun rap to reinforce what they learned. Students come together at the end of the week to celebrate what they learned, to perform the rap they learned in their classes, and to make a pledge to continue making healthy choices.
https://toogoodprograms.org/collections/celebrating-healthy-choices
Cyber Gambling Awareness Program (CGAP)
In collaboration with Lehigh County Drug & Alcohol Abuse Services, The Center for Humanistic Change, Inc. has developed CGAP: Cyber Gambling Awareness Program. This computer based, interactive workshop is designed to raise awareness about the dangers of gambling and the nature of addiction in general. Participants will identify the risks and consequences of gambling, discover the effects of gambling on the brain, understand the cycle of addiction and learn how to get help. For more information: www.thechc.org