Engaging Communities, Youth and Families to Prevent Underage Drinking

UADPEI is a program that focuses on connecting communities, families, parents and youth with strategies to prevent underage drinking. From communications planning to creative support, Vanguard collaborated with SAMHSA to bring together all segments of a community and encourage conversations about this largely socially acceptable activity. The biannual Communities Talk: Town Hall Meetings to Prevent Underage Drinking series is a key way to get people talking about the impact of underage drinking on not just young adults, but entire communities. An estimated 172,000 individuals participated in Communities Talk in 2016 via in-person and virtual Communities Talk events, with millions more exposed to prevention messages through traditional and social media outreach. Additionally, more than 300 institutions of higher education participated by either hosting an event or collaborating with community-based organizations to host one of the 1,500 events held across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands — a 27 percent increase from 2014.