Hot Topics
Welcome to our Hot Topics page.
Our Hot Topics explore some of the most important national public health issues of our time and add to the conversation, proposing solutions and providing insights on issues ranging from x to x.
Upstream Prevention
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
Upstream Prevention Demystified
The term “upstream prevention” – like “population-level prevention” and “systems change” – has become ubiquitous in public health. Yet, its true meaning can remain elusive. In this webinar, we explore the nuanced dimensions of upstream prevention and review strategies for integrating upstream approaches into community work, paving the way for more impactful public health strategies.
Advancing Social Change through Logic Models
Logic models provide a framework for problem-solving. However, they are often developed and used primarily for research and evaluation purposes. In this webinar, we provide practical support for creating and using logic models at every stage of public health campaigns, policy advocacy efforts, and community change projects.
Utilizing Public Art in Prevention
In this webinar, we offer insight and examples on how public art can reduce SUD-related harms in underserved communities. We also explore how public art has been utilized to address blight and increase public safety with Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles.
Assessment
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
Using GIS Maps to Advocate for Healthier Communities
Maps have been at the forefront of decision-making for centuries. In this webinar, we demonstrate how geographic information systems (GIS) can reveal relationships between geography and health (in)equity, and how community members can use their own maps to advocate for policy change.
Community Organizing
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
Playing Chess Not Checkers: How to Win at Community Organizing
Being successful at community organizing requires strategy, from building and gaining trust with community members to coalescing around a plan despite differing points of view. In this webinar, we discuss approaches to grassroots community organizing that will elevate your game.
Creating Healthy Communities through Cultural Appreciation
Cultural organizing has emerged as a multidisciplinary community of practice at the intersection of art, cultural work, and social change. In this webinar, we explore how community organizers can root their organizing in local culture and make room for people to bring their full selves to the table.
Virtual Creativity: Engaging Youth with Technology
Getting youth advocates engaged in working for their communities took a sharp turn during the COVID-19 pandemic. Youth leaders met the challenge by pivoting toward virtual platforms in creative ways. In this webinar, we introduce participants to projects that effectively used technology to engage youth in alcohol and other drug (AOD) prevention efforts.
Utilizing Public Art in Prevention
In this webinar, we offer insight and examples on how public art can reduce SUD-related harms in underserved communities. We also explore how public art has been utilized to address blight and increase public safety with Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles.
Media Advocacy
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
The Art of Media Advocacy: How to Use News to Elevate Community Voices and Advance Change
In a “too much information era,” local public health and advocacy stories are often lost in a sea of multi-million dollar advertising campaigns, national news, and even disinformation efforts. In this webinar, we explore real-world campaigns to teach you how to rise above the noise and implement media advocacy effectively.
Media Advocacy through Storytelling: Using Personal Narratives to Promote Change
Generating news headlines is easy enough to do. The challenge is engaging readers to click and read on. In this webinar, we teach participants how to make their news media stand apart through the element that most connects the writer to the reader: storytelling.
Policy and Systems Change
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
ACTing for Equity: A Real-World Primer for Advancing Equity in Communities
Socioeconomic, cultural, and racial inequities are at the root of most disparities in health, wealth, and opportunity. In this webinar, we introduce IPS’s Approach to Community Transformation (ACT) Model as a framework for integrating equity into programs by engaging in community-led planning, building community power, and supporting community-driven decision making.
Substance Use Prevention
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
Gay Men and the Crystal Meth Epidemic: Making the Case for Harm Reduction
Gay men are one of the groups most impacted by the crystal meth epidemic, with the percentage of use estimated to be as high as 1 in 5. This also has a significant impact on new HIV cases. In this webinar, we introduce promising new harm reduction strategies being used to address the crisis.
Taking Pride: A new look at reducing substance use disorders within the LGBTQ+ community
Spanning culture, race, age, and religious affiliation, the LGBTQ+ community is truly a rainbow. Unfortunately, adverse experiences and toxic stress create conditions where community members are at higher risk of substance use disorders and emotional health issues. In this webinar, we examine the relationship between toxic stress, mental health, and substance use disorders within the LGBTQ+ community.
Equity
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
ACTing for Equity: A Real-World Primer for Advancing Equity in Communities
Socioeconomic, cultural, and racial inequities are at the root of most disparities in health, wealth, and opportunity. In this webinar, we introduce IPS’s Approach to Community Transformation (ACT) Model as a framework for integrating equity into programs by engaging in community-led planning, building community power, and supporting community-driven decision making.
Creating Healthy Communities through Cultural Appreciation
Cultural organizing has emerged as a multidisciplinary community of practice at the intersection of art, cultural work, and social change. In this webinar, we explore how community organizers can root their organizing in local culture and make room for people to bring their full selves to the table.
Harm Reduction
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
Taking Pride: A new look at reducing substance use disorders within the LGBTQ+ community
Spanning culture, race, age, and religious affiliation, the LGBTQ+ community is truly a rainbow. Unfortunately, adverse experiences and toxic stress create conditions where community members are at higher risk of substance use disorders and emotional health issues. In this webinar, we examine the relationship between toxic stress, mental health, and substance use disorders within the LGBTQ+ community.
Gay Men and the Crystal Meth Epidemic: Making the Case for Harm Reduction
Gay men are one of the groups most impacted by the crystal meth epidemic, with the percentage of use estimated to be as high as 1 in 5. This also has a significant impact on new HIV cases. In this webinar, we introduce promising new harm reduction strategies being used to address the crisis.
Community Trauma/ACEs
We partner with communities to advance quality of life. We believe in collective responsibility and collective impact. Together, we address community trauma. We reduce underage drinking rates. We implement healthy food systems. Most importantly, we create the power for change.
Breaking the Cycle of ACEs
Research has established the link between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and increased susceptibility for substance use disorders later in life. Too often, inequitable policies aggravate this link, inducing stress in certain communities that undermines community and child wellbeing. In this webinar, we explore how public health providers can partner with communities to build resilience and break the cycle of intergenerational trauma.
An Integrated Approach to Trauma & Resilience
Research suggests resilience is the foundation for healing trauma for individuals and communities. In this webinar, we explore how public health providers working on the frontlines can associate the parallels of caring for themselves as they care for their communities.
What You Need To Know About 'Gray Area' Drinking
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Many people's alcohol habits exist in a fuzzy space between two extremes. So when is it a problem?