Prevention Matters

Teens who have seen their parents drunk are more than twice as likely to get drunk in a typical month, and three times more likely to use marijuana and smoke cigarettes, when compared to teens who have not seen their parents drunk. Those are among the results of the 2009 Teen Survey from the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) at Columbia University.

"Some Moms' and Dads' behavior and attitudes make them parent enablers—parents who send their 12- to 17-year olds a message that it's okay to smoke, drink, get drunk and use illegal drugs like marijuana," said Joseph A. Califano, Jr., CASA's chairman and founder and former U.S. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. "...Teens' behavior is strongly associated with their parents' behavior and expectations, so parents who expect their children to drink and use drugs will have children who drink and use drugs."

The American people overwhelmingly believe that investing more in disease prevention will save money. Even more importantly, they believe overwhelmingly that we should invest more in prevention, even if it doesn't save money. In this podcast we talk with Richard Hamburg, Director of Government Relations for the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH). His organization has conducted an extensive survey of Americans to find out how they feel about disease prevention and health promotion, as well as how big of a priority they think it should be as Congress tries to reform the health care system.

To listen to this podcast, click on the media player below. If you do not see a media player below, click here.

Partnership for Prevention invites health officers, deputy directors, and program directors in state and local public health departments to help us learn more about the practical information they need to select community-based prevention programs and policies. These leaders are invited to complete an online survey that can be found by clicking here.

When completed, send an email to akristensen@prevent.org with “survey completed” in the subject line and receive a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com. On Thursday, February 5th from 1:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST, Partnership will host a web conference with leaders in state and local public health departments to explore in greater depth their information needs. To register for the conference please click here. You’ll receive a $75 Amazon.com gift certificate after registering and participating.