GOT OUTCOMES FEATURE: Missouri Partners in Prevention

When a problem affects the entire state, it sometimes takes the entire state to address the problem. And when the problem is binge, or high-risk drinking on college campuses, it takes both college and coalition staff and students to collaborate. That's what the Missouri Partners in Prevention did to address their community's binge drinking rates. The coalition was the recipient of CADCA's 2009 Got Outcomes! Coalition of Excellence Award, winning in the Coalition in Focus category, which recognizes coalitions that demonstrate contributions to communitywide declines for one substance-related issue.

"We look at the award as sending a message to the greater prevention community that the college community is on the right track,” said Director of Partners in Prevention, Joan Masters.

The coalition, headquartered at the University of Missouri, and operating through MU’s Wellness Resource Center in the Department of Student Life has, indeed, made some changes in their state. After initial assessments revealed high levels of binge drinking among students attending Missouri colleges, and significant correlations between binge drinking and students missing class and doing poorly on tests, the coalition developed a plan to reduce binge drinking by five percent in three years for each campus community. They implemented the evidence-based Community Trials intervention to address the issue comprehensively.

As a result of their efforts, Masters said, campus communities have experienced numerous significant outcomes. A 33 percent reduction in binge drinking occurred in universities and colleges in Missouri that were part of the Partners in Prevention alcohol awareness program. These colleges have experienced a 10 percent drop in underage drinking and a 15 percent decrease in underage students who drank at private parties.

Partners in Prevention uses evidence-based programs that yield results, focusing on four approaches to promoting healthy decisions with alcohol, no matter if the student is legally allowed to drink or not: prevention education, "social-norming," harm reduction programs and environmental management.
Coalition staff helped each campus set their own goals and individual strategic plans to address their unique local conditions, Masters said.

“We hesitated to have a one-size-fits-all approach. We will let them inform us about what will work, and we will let them know the data,” Masters said, who got her start in prevention as a peer educator in college.

Formed in 2000, and based in Columbia, Missouri, Partners in Prevention is a coalition of 19 Missouri schools and recently added six private institutions, including some religious institutions, through a grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Mike McBride, Partners in Prevention’s Underage Drinking Prevention Program Coordinator, accepted the award on behalf of the coalition at CADCA’s 20th Annual National Leadership Forum held last month in Maryland.

Click here to view a video highlighting the work of the Missouri Partners in Prevention.