Actionable Predictors of Community Readiness for Substance Misuse Prevention

Background: The prevalence of substance misuse among young people, and the risks associated with it, emphasize the need for targeted prevention efforts. Understanding factors that impact communities' readiness to implement successful prevention programs is critical to addressing this need effectively. Objectives: The purpose of this paper is to identify predictors of community readiness (CR) for substance misuse prevention by examining relationships between readiness and (1) community type, (2) community attitudes, (3) barriers and facilitators, and (4) town ability to implement activities. The authors used data from a 2022 Connecticut-wide key informant survey that assessed community level readiness to implement behavioral health prevention and promotion activities. Results: ANOVA indicated that rural communities had a significantly lower mean CR stage (MR = 4.1, SDR = 1.8) than other community types. Three linear regression models found the following to be significantly and positively associated with CR stage: community residents' concern about prevention (b = 0.35), knowledge about community programs (b = 0.27), political support for prevention (b = 0.23), data to determine the extent of the issue (b = 0.41), the community's ability to collect local data (b = 0.64), and raise community awareness (b = 0.48). Conclusions: Findings suggest areas where prevention practitioners could increase focus in order to improve readiness to implement prevention practices related to substance misuse, including bolstering community capacity to collect data, educating residents, and increasing community members' knowledge, awareness, and concern about substance misuse.