Prevention Collaboration in Action Toolkit
Stories of Success and Tools to Help You Get There
Effective prevention requires the involvement of multiple players, working together to address complex problems. This toolkit showcases some of the exciting ways prevention professionals are collaborating across communities and behavioral health fields to prevent substance use and misuse and promote overall health and wellness in their communities.
Read the grantee collaboration success stories and discover the factors that contributed to collaboration success. Then explore the toolkit's tools and worksheets, designed to help you initiate, strengthen, and maintain collaborative relationships in your own community.
Grantee Success Stories
Making Prevention a Community Effort in Rural Arkansas
Making Prevention a Community Effort in Rural Arkansas
Partnering with Purpose in the Carolinas
Partnering with Purpose in the Carolinas
Building Community Voices into Programming
Building Community Voices into Programming
Collaboration Tools
We understand that every collaborative relationship is unique and will grow in its own way. To address the evolving needs of practitioners, the tools and worksheets in this toolkit are organized by five essential building blocks for successful collaborations. If you are new to collaboration, explore tools included under the first element—Understanding the Basics. If you are already collaborating with partners, browse the elements that correspond with where you are in the collaboration process. This just-in-time approach lets you access the information you need to move your prevention efforts forward.
Are you interested in collaborating—but still not sure what it's all about? Explore how and why people collaborate, opportunities for collaboration across SAMHSA's Strategic Prevention Framework, and some of the core principles of successful collaboration.
Related Collaboration Tools
Collaboration sounds exciting, but is the timing right? Before jumping in, make sure your reasons are clear, your team is ready, and you know where to look for partners who can extend and enhance your prevention efforts.
Related Collaboration Tools
- Preparing for Prescriber Education: Getting the Lay of the Land
- Opioid Overdose and the Role of Prescriber Education
- Are You Ready? Assessing Readiness to Collaborate
- What Do We Mean by Resources?
- Analyzing Existing Partnerships
- Opportunities for Collaborating with Medical Professionals to Prevent Opioid Misuse
- 21st Century Partners in Prevention
- Opportunities for Engaging Partners to Prevent Opioid Overdose-related Deaths
Getting the right partners on board takes careful planning. The tools in this section will help you develop a recruitment plan, make a strong case for involvement, and connect more effectively with specific groups of stakeholders.
Related Collaboration Tools
- 21st Century Partners in Prevention
- Collaborating with Higher Ed
- Collaborating with Policy Makers to Inform Prevention Planning
- Developing a Recruitment Action Plan
- Taking a Health Equity Approach to Identifying New Partners
- Tips for Ensuring a Culturally Competent Collaboration
- Tips for Successful Recruitment
- You Gotta Hear This! Developing an Effective Elevator Pitch
Your partners are on board—now what? Before the work begins, think through how your group will function, how decisions will be made, and what partners need to know—about the project and one another—to be productive and stay engaged.
Related Collaboration Tools
- Who’s Who in Early Childhood And How They Can Support Your Prevention Efforts
- Beginning Your Collaboration: Tips for a Safe and Satisfying Journey
- Creating a Memorandum of Agreement
- Decision-Making Models: Voting versus Consensus
- Determining Member Responsibilities
- Determining the Training Needs of New Partners
- Dos and Don'ts of Collaborative Leadership
- Effective Social Media Planning
Like all good relationships, healthy collaborations require attention and nurturing. Take time out to assess the satisfaction of members, revisit collaboration activities, and respond to the evolving needs of the group, as a whole.
Related Collaboration Tools