Identification of Infrastructure Gaps to Address Youth Alcohol Use in Hawai‘i Rebecca Williams, MPH, Claudio Nigg, PhD & Van Ta, PhD Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Hawai‛i at Mānoa Office of Public Health Studies Contact: rjwillia@hawaii.edu RATIONALE RESULTS DISCUSSION Alcohol abuse chronic diseases and death. Prevention effective when applied at broader levels. Communities need sufficient infrastructure and capacity to operate effective prevention programs. Step 1 of 5 in the planning process to implement youth alcohol prevention programs in communities in Hawai‘i. Areas Need Improvement and Recommendations Effectiveness: communication and collaboration between community organizations Sustainability and Funding: leverage funds/other resources Areas of Proficiencies and Recommendations Organization and Workforce Knowledge and Skills: knowledge of evidence-based prevention strategies, ability to collect and share data Cultural competency: expanding services compatible with the cultural health beliefs, practices, and the preferred language of their communities. Hawai‘i County Honolulu County PURPOSE To evaluate community capacity in the state of Hawai‘i using a capacity assessment survey administered to stakeholders in the youth alcohol prevention system. METHOD Participants 100+ State and 100+ County stakeholders Non-profit organizations, private enterprises, community health centers, and government-sponsored entities involved with adolescent alcohol use 63% female; average age=46 (SD=22.3) Procedures “Capacity Assessment Matrix”: survey on effectiveness, funding/resource availability, sustainability, organization, workforce skills/knowledge, and cultural competency Measures Rated on: assessment of performance and importance Gap scores: discrepancy between agency’s performance and importance Analysis Average gap scores yield a single score for six domains One-sample t-tests using ‘ideal’ gap score of 0 as a marker Paired sample t-test, exploratory p<.05 Kaua‘i County Maui County State of Hawai‘i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Supported by a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Service Administration awarded to the Hawai‘i Department of Health, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division. The authors acknowledge State Epidemiological Workgroup, the County Advisory Committees’ and the State Advisory Committee’s data collection. We thank Daniela Kittinger, Wendy Nihoa, and Christine Payne for their contributions to this study.