How To Get Involved In National Prevention Week 2023
Medically Reviewed By: Manish Mishra, MBBS
SAMHSA’s National Prevention Week 2023 runs from May 7 to May 13, bringing together government and community organizations from across the nation to raise awareness about the importance of substance abuse prevention and supporting both behavioral and mental health.
For National Prevention Week (NPW) this year, the event’s branding has been refreshed with an updated logo and tagline: “A Celebration of Possibility.”
Part educational summit and part engagement and strategy session, NPW is a once-a-year opportunity for individuals, organizations, and communities across the United States to share experiences and develop strategies to save lives.
In 2023, NPW will be held from May 7 to May 13, nationwide.
The Goals Of National Prevention Week
Hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), National Prevention Week 2023 sets out to further a variety of missions supported by SAMHSA and other public health organizations:
- celebrating the efforts and accomplishments of addiction prevention organizations and champions
- involving communities in raising public awareness for critical substance misuse and mental health issues
- implementing prevention strategies and highlighting the benefits of evidence-based prevention programs
- building partnerships between federal agencies and both government and non-government national, state, and local organizations working to improve public health
- promoting and disseminating prevention resources, including resource for substance use prevention, suicide prevention, and mental health promotion
Participation is open to everyone, from major public health institutions to professional providers, teachers, parents/caregivers, children, teens, and adults.
Getting Involved In NPW
When you participate in National Prevention Week, you’ll be showing others that prevention can work while joining the nationwide effort to combat drug use, alcohol abuse, addiction, overdose, suicide, and other serious mental health crises.
Host An Event
If you or your organization works to raise awareness about substance misuse and mental health, SAMHSA invites you to submit an event for National Prevention Week using this submission form.
SAMHSA may even showcase your event and highlight your accomplishments using their national platform. They offer a variety of resources to help hosts run a successful event, including a planning toolkit, fact sheet, and promotion materials.
Learn
You can also register at the National Prevention Week website, attend local events, watch webinar success stories like “Talk. They Hear You” and “Communities Talk to Prevent Alcohol and Other Drug Misuse”, and learn about other SAMHSA-supported initiatives.
A variety of resources, promotional materials, and digital interactive activities will be made available as part of the week’s activities.
Share Stories
Participants are also invited to share their own stories related to substance abuse, mental health, and recovery on social media using the hashtags #MyPreventionStory and #NationalPreventionWeek23.
You can sign up for SAMHSA’s email newsletters to stay up to date on the latest news, events, and addiction prevention resources.
Not Just One Week
Addiction prevention is a cause that goes on year-round.
SAMHSA and other organizations actively encourage participants and partners to host community events in season and out of season, and especially in observance of other major initiatives like:
- National Wellness Month (January)
- National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (late March)
- National Alcohol Awareness Month (April)
- Mental Health Awareness Month (May)
- International Self-Care Day (July 24)
- National Recovery Month (September)
- National Suicide Prevention Month (September)
- World Suicide Prevention Day (September 10)
- National Suicide Prevention Week (September 10-16)
- National Substance Abuse Prevention Month (October)
- Depression Awareness Month (October)
- Mental Health Awareness Week (October 1-7)
- World Mental Health Day (October 10)
Ohio Substance Abuse Facts
According to the most recent figures available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Ohio Department of Health, the state of Ohio, had an accidental drug overdose death rate of 48.1/100,000 residents in 2021.
Drug overdose deaths in this state are attributed primarily to abuse of synthetic opioids like fentanyl and psychostimulants like cocaine and methamphetamine. In Ohio alone, accidental drug overdose accounted for the deaths of at least 5,210 state residents in 2021.
Ohio also has above-average rates of underage drinking, binge drinking, and alcohol use disorder. The economic cost of excessive alcohol consumption and alcoholism in Ohio in 2021 was estimated to be $2.10 per drink, or around $739 per person.
To learn how we use evidence-based inpatient detoxification and treatment programs to help Ohio residents, please contact us today.
- Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — Data on Excessive Drinking https://www.cdc.gov/alcohol/data-stats.htm
- Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — Ohio Key Health Indicators https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/states/ohio/oh.htm
- Data Ohio — State of Ohio Integrated Behavioral Health Dashboard https://data.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/data/view/ohio-ibhd
- Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) — Fact Sheet For National Prevention Week https://www.samhsa.gov/sites/default/files/programs-practitioners/npw-fact-sheet.pdf