Prevention is built on belonging.
Listening First
This work grows out of Alaska Department of Health, Office of Substance Misuse and Addiction Prevention’s Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) Community Café conversations held across nine Alaska communities.
In those discussions, residents identified what matters most: reducing stigma, offering peer support and harm reduction, linking people to care, and strengthening recovery supports.
Facing the Crisis Together
Rates of self-harm and polysubstance use remain unacceptably high in Alaska, leading to preventable illness, injury, and loss of life. We respond by:
Engaging local people in communities of practice that balance cultural strengths with research-based best practices.
Expanding life-saving strategies into hard-to-reach communities.
Building stronger partnerships with public safety.
Strengthening local linkages to care.
Community-Led Solutions
We believe the best answers come from within communities themselves. Our project trains community health workers to use the PC CARES model—a proven approach from Alaska—to build local “communities of practice.” These groups bring together neighbors, families, and service providers to share knowledge, reduce stigma, and take action.
Turning Knowledge Into Action
Our commitment is to translate scientific research into practical tools that communities can use every day. By combining evidence-based strategies with local strengths, we aim to prevent at-risk substance use, overdoses, and related harms—such as impaired driving and injury—and build healthier, more connected communities.
