Blend school-based and community prevention efforts to affect environmental change and link prevention programs with the primary mission of schools, which is academics, are two recommendations from a symposium of 40 distinguished researchers and leaders in the area of alcohol and other drug prevention. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation convened the symposium to consider the current status of prevention in the United States and the steps necessary to move effective prevention programs into practice to.

The Foundation's intent was to benefit prevention performance and outcomes by conveying to policymakers the conclusions and recommendations from this group of experts as they considered the next steps for advancing the prevention field in mounting evidence-based initiatives at the federal, state, and local levels.

The meeting, called Prevention 2000: Moving Effective Programs into Practice, emphasized new ideas and opportunities for prevention. Participants were encouraged to think about the future of prevention and to focus on openings rather than barriers.

"We hoped that meeting would result in concrete actions that could be accomplished to advance the field quickly," said Nancy Kaufman, a vice president at The Foundation.

The meeting report [2 MB PDF] Prevention 2000: Moving Effective Prevention Programs into Practice identifies a range of conclusions and recommendations for advancing the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug problems in the United States that were advanced by symposium participants. They center on seven key points that can be addressed at the federal, state, and local levels.

In preparation for the meeting, The Foundation commissioned three papers as background reading for participants, who also received briefing papers from presenters to inform roundtable and working group discussions. To view these papers click here.