The evidence is on our side. Addiction and related behavioral health conditions are not only treatable but preventable. In other words, we have the science to get ahead of behavioral health issues in a big way—by starting early, by using proven effective practices and working collaboratively.
That's why prevention science and practices are at the core of Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation's mission to help more people live healthy lives. Our research-informed programs, curricula, services and resources are designed to keep healthy people healthy, strengthen families, and foster community health and well-being.
By focusing on risk and protective factors, and by bringing the most-effective prevention practices and resources to the fore, we can equip and empower healthier, happier communities everywhere.
To effectively protect and promote health, prevention efforts must work in and across multiple domains and spheres of influence. That's why our prevention model centers on individuals, families and communities in empowering all to contribute to their own health as well as the health of the larger whole.
Prevention initiatives and activities benefit people of all ages and in all situations. But protecting health and preventing risks early on—when behavioral health patterns first begin to take shape—can be particularly powerful. That's why most of our prevention services, products and resources are focused on youth and school communities. Our prevention solutions focus on four main areas:
Our prevention specialists and trainers work alongside students, school staff, families and communities to build life skills that last—whether surveying attitudes and behaviors, implementing new programming, assessing effectiveness or promoting greater awareness.