Introducing substance abuse prevention to the faith community

The purpose of this project was to establish a linkage with the faith community in order to determine the special needs of seminaries in regard to incorporating substance abuse prevention into their curricula. An advisory committee was formed by working with representatives from each of ten theological seminaries in northeast Kansas, western Missouri, and southern Iowa. Information gained from this collaboration was used to individualize a 2-day training program for: (1) gaining awareness of personal attitudes toward substance abuse; (2) increasing understanding of the impact of substance abuse on the individual, the family, and the community; (3) developing an understanding of the dynamics within functional and dysfunctional families; (4) expanding understanding of the physiological effects of alcohol and other drugs; and (5) focusing on individual, family, and community strategies for prevention. Pretests and posttests were administered using the Substance Abuse Attitude Survey and the Baseline Training Survey, and a 3-month follow-up was completed. Results and implications of the initiative are encouraging.