The Prevention Project

Note: Information on this page is copyrighted and is the intellectual property of STEPS Ministries.

 

Overview

Many substance abuse and mental health issues are both treatable and preventable! But, tragically, as many as 90% of those struggling will not get help.

The Prevention Project will help people take steps to prevent addiction and mental health problems from destroying their lives and families.

STEPS Ministries is uniquely and solely focused on early awareness, intervention, and prevention for addiction and mental health issues. We are dedicated to helping people and families help themselves by adopting wellness lifestyle practices that will prevent stress, depression, substance abuse, and other compulsive mental issues from ruining their lives.

We deliver in-person training and coaching and digital content and education to help people recognize and deal with these issues early in the process. We deliver most of our education over the internet, and we also partner with other organizations to provide training for their audiences. These methods enable us to remain a low-overhead organization that can scale our programs and serve many more people very efficiently.

 

Description

The Prevention Project will integrate existing resources, create breakthrough new prevention content, and offer useful information to help people change their lives. This project is uniquely focused on the prevention of addiction and mental health problems by encouraging awareness of issues, early intervention and connection to resources, and wellness and prevention education.

We have the processes and content to execute The Prevention Project successfully if we are able to acquire the necessary funding for the resources required for the project.

We will leverage 2 Content Frameworks we created named STEPS and PACES which were developed from secondary research of subject matter experts in mental health and addiction.

We will utilize our Delivery Methodology called The Journey, and we have aligned our goals and measurements to the activities in that approach.

We will deliver existing and new content, store it in an Online Training Center, and offer it to organizations across the Southeast and in other parts of the United States.

We will use digital marketing to offer content to 100,000 people, and we will expand from there.

 

Purpose and Differentiation

The need for prevention of addiction and mental health issues is profound. The numbers of people affected are staggering, and far too few of them receive appropriate treatment.

The Surgeon General’s Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health

1 in 7 Americans will face substance addictions.

Only 10% of those addicted receive treatment.

Versus 70% of people with diabetes who get treatment.

National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University

40 million Americans over age 12 meet the clinical criteria for addiction.

That’s more than those with heart disease, diabetes, or cancer.

An additional 80 million people are risky substance users.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIH)

Nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults live with a mental illness.

19.1% had an anxiety disorder in the past year.

7.1% had at least 1 major depressive episode.

Mental Health First Aid

Almost half of U.S. adults experience a mental illness during their lifetime.

Only 41% of the people who had a mental disorder received care.

STEPS Ministries addresses these needs in a highly differentiated fashion:

Prevention focused – We are uniquely and specifically focused on the prevention of addiction and mental health issues.

Personal experience – Our Executive Director, Steve Ward, and his wife have personal experience with recovery, and their son faced issues with drugs and alcohol while in high school.

Practical techniques – Our material outlines pragmatic, how-to steps and techniques that people can implement on a daily basis.

Proven approach – We utilize evidence-based and evidence-informed concepts, and the recovery principles we portray have worked for millions of people.

Repeatable methodologies – We have documented research-based frameworks and methodologies that anyone can use over and over.

Scalable operations – Our use of digital content and delivery allows us to impact a great number of people at low cost, and our content is universal and timeless in nature.

 

Approach and Implementation

We deliver useful material to help people improve their lives and prevent addiction and mental health issues from harming their well-being. As people move deeper into pain, they travel along what STEPS Ministries calls The Journey. We can help them at any stage of this journey.

The Journey: The 5 Phases of Pain and 5 Ways We Can Help

1. Denial – “It seems like I’m running on a treadmill, and I don’t know how to get off. Is this what life is supposed to be like?”

• Reach them: Present them with relevant, easy-to-understand information that gets them thinking about life.

2. Discomfort – “I have anxiety, and I feel down sometimes. I have a way to numb my feelings and escape, but I’m starting to feel guilty about it.”

• Serve them: Offer them useful material related to their pain to deepen their interest in making a positive change.

3. Pain – “I’m really stressed (depressed), and/or I’m starting to recognize that my substance use is becoming a problem.”

• Nurture them: Establish an ongoing connection through social media and enhance that relationship with content via email.

4. Fear – “I’m getting scared about what’s going on. I want to be happy, but I’m not sure what to do about it.”

• Encourage them: Continue to offer valuable content via email and present them with opportunities for deeper education.

5. Hopelessness – “Life has challenges, and I know there are things I can do to live better, but trying to change my entire life is too hard.”

• Equip them: Use our Content Portal and Training Center as an ongoing place to go for lifestyle education.

 

Implementation

Below are the specific activities we will conduct if The Prevention Project is fully funded:

• Interview 10 industry-leading subject matter experts on prevention of mental health and addiction issues and capture this insight as a feature of The Prevention Project.
• Utilize our existing 200+ articles and 50+ videos and podcasts on aspects of Prevention.
• Showcase 10 (3 existing, 4 updated, 3 new) online Life Improvement Tool Kits:
  • “It’s Okay Not to Be Okay: Dealing with Shame and Stigma” (new)
  • “Dealing with Stress More Effectively” (existing)
  • “Dealing with Sadness and Depression” (new)
  • “Dealing with Personal Issues and Trials” (updated)
  • “Understanding High-Functioning Addiction” (existing)
  • “How to Prevent Addiction and Relapse” (updated)
  • “Learning More About Recovery” (existing)
  • “How You Can Help Those Who Are Struggling” (updated)
  • “How Churches Can Help Those Who Are Struggling” (new)
  • “How Companies Can Help Those Who Are Struggling” (updated)
• Use the weekly STEPS Journey Blog in email outreach to deliver prevention updates.
• Utilize the Next Right STEPS podcast as a key feature of The Prevention Project.
• Relaunch the book STEPS: A Daily Journey to a Better Life in support of this project.
  • Add an audio book version, study and work guide, and other resources.
• Create a new online course on Preventing Mental Health and Addiction Issues.
• Create an integrated Online Training Center for The Prevention Project content.
  • House the content in one place for easy access by individuals and organizations.
• Multiply the impact of The Prevention Project by collaborating with other organizations.
  • Offer the content to 25 organizations in the Southeast, potentially more elsewhere.
• Hold 4 “virtual conferences” as online webinars to educate groups on Prevention.
• Deliver messages and techniques on Prevention through Facebook and Instagram.
  • Contact other organizations and individuals to encourage sharing of content.
• Utilize Google and Facebook advertising to reach at least 100,000 additional people we would not be able to serve otherwise and make them aware of The Prevention Project.

 

Content Approach

Two Content Frameworks will be utilized as part of The Prevention Project. The first is STEPS which was documented in the book STEPS: A Daily Journey to a Better Life. This methodology is based on the Twelve Steps which have been used successfully by millions of people in over 200 types of recovery groups.

STEPS: A Daily Journey to a Better Life

• Surrender – Surrender your will to God and make choices based on faith and courage.
• Transformation – Humbly admit your mistakes and make positive changes in your life.
• Empathy – Seek forgiveness and invest in good relationships.
• Progress – Spend time every day in prayer and meditation.
• Service – Serve as an example and add value to the lives of others.

The second Content Framework is PACES. This methodology was developed over several years from secondary research of subject matter experts in mental health, addiction and recovery, psychology, counseling, and related disciplines.

PACES: Developing a Wellness Lifestyle

• Being Proactive – Be intentional in developing a positive lifestyle emotionally, spiritually, and personally.
• Greater Awareness – Exercise self-awareness and self-control and keep taking the next right step.
• Positive Connection – Share with someone in a vulnerable way and continue connecting with others.
• Life Management Education – Develop good habits and coping skills to live well one day at a time.
• Planning the Next Right Steps – Build a personal plan to move toward meaning and purpose.

These Content Frameworks will be augmented by new research for The Prevention Project. Interviews will be conducted with 10 industry-leading subject matter experts on prevention of mental health and addiction issues.

We will also feature other evidence-based methods translated into practical, how-to guidance anyone can utilize. Examples include: SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment); TSF (Twelve Step Facilitation); WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan}; Motivational Interviewing; CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy); and Mindfulness Training.

 

Sustainability Plan

STEPS Ministries has a very sustainable organization because we keep operating expenses low compared to the number of people we serve and impact. Most expenses are variable rather than fixed and can be adjusted based on the financial condition of the organization to maintain a healthy financial posture. We carry no debt or formal or informal financial commitments.

Since we deliver most of our content and education digitally and offer our in-person services largely in partnership with other organizations, we require very little overhead to operate.

We have a modular, phased plan for The Prevention Project. The items in the Description of Activities section will take place over a 12-month period of time. If STEPS Ministries does not acquire the necessary funding, elements of the project will be dropped which will lower the number of people we can serve. It will not significantly jeopardize the ability of our organization to operate overall, but thousands of people will not receive the life-changing content and training this project is designed to deliver. Resources needed for The Prevention Project include:

• Content Development – 50% of a curriculum creator for 3 months
• Content Creation – 50% of a writer/editor for 6 months
• Digital Products and Delivery – 25% of a product designer for 6 months
• Audio Content – Agency for audio book and podcast consulting
• Book Content – Publishing and related resources for the relaunch
• Online Training Center – 10% of 2 technical contractors for 6 months
• Project Management – 15% of a project manager for 12 months
• Partnering Outreach – 20% of a communications/event lead for 12 months
• Digital Outreach – Agency to conduct marketing to reach 100,000 people

Our long-term content strategy ensures a high degree of sustainability. We possess the intellectual property for over 300,000 words of reusable content that is universal in nature and timeless in its usability. In addition, we have dozens of videos, podcasts, presentations, and other forms of content. All of this material can be used and repurposed for years to come to address many different issues for a number of audiences.

We utilize a low-cost staffing model which uses Samford University interns for much of our operations. We have discussions underway with Highlands College for additional interns as well.

The paid resources we use are almost entirely contractors and agencies, and there are a large number of those resources available in the marketplace. We will continue to staff this way, and we will not depend on in-house paid employees other than the Executive Director. This use of contractors allows us to vary our resources up or down depending on circumstances.

We collaborate with a number of organizations as a key part of our sustainability plan. We partner with a number of churches delivering training. We work with companies, organizations, and community coalitions to deliver content to their audiences.

We do not depend on a significant number of volunteers for any critical operations.

We have committed donations that cover most of our operating budget. Our support base is diversified among a good number of organizations and individuals, and it is growing steadily.

Our Board of Directors and Board of Advisors offer guidance and accountability for strategic and operating issues, and they provide an additional layer of stability for our organization.

STEPS is ramping up our capability to bring in revenue to augment fundraising. This will be through the sale of physical products (books, audio books, tools), digital products (eBooks, online tools, educational products, online courses), and services (coaching, consulting, speaking). The majority of this revenue will be based on reusable digital products, so it is very scalable because we can grow with little additional expense.

 

Challenges

Mental health and addiction challenges are some of the most destructive issues people face. Yet, the vast majority of resources are applied to treatment after the fact rather than on prevention.

Our biggest challenge to helping the most people prevent mental health and substance abuse issues is the moderate resources and funding needed for the project.

Our approach is to reach people earlier in the cycle before their lives have been destroyed. We use secondary research to find proven principles and techniques, and we synthesize and adapt that material into useful education and content that is interesting and easy-to-understand. We do not attempt to address medical or psychiatric issues, but the good news is that there are many principles and behaviors that work very well if embraced sincerely.

As people move deeper into pain or progress toward wellness, they travel along what STEPS Ministries calls The Journey. There are common challenges people face along this journey, but there are ways that STEPS can address them. We have designed our content (e.g. the PACES Content Framework) and our delivery (which aligns to The Journey) to address these challenges.

People are often busy or distracted – We help them become more Proactive. We offer content and training online for convenient access. We hold virtual webinars and support meetings. We send content to people weekly through our blog and podcast, and we make it available through social media and digital advertising as well.

People believe addiction or mental health issues can’t happen to them – We focus on creating greater Awareness. We talk about real-life dangers involved with these issues and help people develop greater self-awareness so they understand, “Yes, it can happen to me or my family.”

People isolate (emotionally or relationally) and do not get the help they need – We promote positive Connection. We connect through outbound and inbound ways we offer content and we seek to establish a relationship. We help them deal with shame and encourage them to get help.

People remain in denial until the level of pain becomes high – We provide Education to help them examine the trajectory they are on in life. We help them “play the tape forward” and “count the cost” of their behavior to inspire them to make a change in their lifestyle choices or habits.

People don’t know what to do to get better and stay healthy – We provide useful, relevant, and practical Steps they can take on a daily basis. There is a clutter of information on the internet that is often confusing. Also, people learn and consume content in different ways. We synthesize the information that is out there into material they can understand and use to improve their lives.

 

Demographics

In the United States, 1 in 7 people face substance addictions, and 90% won’t get treatment. Also, 1 in 5 live with a mental illness, and 60% of them won’t receive treatment. Those 2 populations overlap, but there are likely over 500,000 people just in Alabama with untreated issues. In the United States, there are conservatively over 30 million people who fit this description.

With digital marketing, we can target people based on the topics they are interested in. We can reach out to those interested in the issues we can help them with. By presenting information to large numbers of these people, we can find those who are willing to take positive steps.

In addition, we can establish an Online Training Center for anyone interested in prevention of these issues. We can offer that content to organizations all over the state and the country.

We will also use The Prevention Project to support these more specific demographics:

• People in early-stage addiction – How to prevent addiction and embrace recovery.
• Those struggling with stress or depression – Dealing with stress and other issues.
• Young people – Handling issues such as anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.
• Parents – Helping teenagers avoid substance abuse and some mental health issues.
• Families and friends of those struggling – How to help the people around you.

 

Goals

Our goals are to help people improve their lives and prevent addiction and mental health issues from harming them and ruining their families. The individual outcomes of people’s lives being changed or saved are at the heart of what The Prevention Project is all about.

The content we create will be universal and timeless in nature, so we can impact people for years to come. Because we can deliver content digitally, we can help anyone anywhere. We will prepare for The Prevention Project in the second half of 2020, and execute the project beginning in early 2021. The one-year goals below are conservative in the sense that we can ramp up the project depending on our early experiences and continue it beyond the first year:

The Journey: 5 Ways We Can Help

1. Reach: Present them with relevant, easy-to-understand information that gets them thinking about life.
   • Use Google and Facebook advertising to reach at least 100,000 people.
2. Serve: Offer them useful material related to their pain to deepen their interest in making a positive change.
   • Offer tools and eBooks via Google and Facebook ads to 20,000 people.
   • Use social media sharing with 20 organizations to reach 10,000 people.
   • Offer content to 25 organizations to reach at least 2500 people.
3. Nurture: Establish an ongoing connection through social media and enhance that relationship with content via email.
   • Use the Next Right STEPS podcast to reach 3000 people.
   • Use Facebook and Instagram to reach 6000 people.
   • Use the STEPS Journey Blog to reach 5000 people.
4. Encourage: Continue to offer valuable content via email and present them with opportunities for deeper education.
   • Hold 4 “virtual conferences” as online webinars to educate at least 400 people.
   • Interview 10 prevention subject matter experts.
   • Complete 10 online Life Improvement Tool Kits.
5. Equip: Use our Content Portal and Training Center as an ongoing place to go for lifestyle education.
   • Deliver 100 copies of the Preventing Mental Health and Addiction Issues
   • Deliver 1000 copies of the book STEPS: A Daily Journey to a Better Life.
   • Entertain 1000 visitors to the Online Training Center.

The Prevention Project will utilize the resources of STEPS Ministries for efficiency and to minimize cost, and the requested funding will support additional resources to meet these goals. As reference, some of the accomplishments of our organization during the last year included:

• Featured in magazines and podcasts reaching tens of thousands of people.
• Offered content to over 10,000 people using digital advertising.
• Reached over 1000 people through email and using social media.
• Taught in-person seminars for over 400 people and appeared at 6 large events.
• Meetings with more than 150 people and 1-on-1 coaching for over 20 people.
• Collaborated with over 20 churches, companies, civic groups, and organizations.
• Created over 50 articles, over 40 videos and podcasts, and an online Content Portal.
• Created the 2020 Survival Kit, How You Can Help resources, Proactive Parenting program, Steps Toward God eBook, Life Improvement Tool Kits, and the End Heroin Walk outreach project.

 

Measurement

It has historically been difficult to measure behavioral change for mental health and substance abuse issues due to many factors. The best measures tend to be long-term longitudinal studies, but they are relatively rare, costly, and may take decades to perform.

In addition, we are posed with the question: “How does one measure when addiction or mental illness have been prevented?” In other words, how do you measure when something has not happened when it would have likely happened without such intervention?

Difficulties aside, we do have good success metrics, specifically: (a) user feedback and surveys on content effectiveness, (b) many quantitative metrics for the breadth and effectiveness of how we deliver content, and (c) some qualitative mechanisms for evaluating behavior change.

Content Measurement

• Social media – feedback via direct messaging (ongoing)
• Articles, videos, podcasts – user surveys and focus groups (bi-annual)
• Seminars and webinars – post-evaluations (collect as delivered)
• Tools, tool kits, other products – user surveys (after 3 months)
• Courses – pre- and post-evaluations
• Books – endorsements, reviews, reader feedback

Delivery Measurement (aligned to The Journey)

• Reach
  • Google ads – impressions, clicks, conversions
  • Facebook ads – impressions, clicks, conversion
  • Speaking events – attendees
  • Followers who Share our social media – guesstimate on reach
  • Other bloggers or podcasters who use our content – their reach
  • Traditional and digital media stories and interviews – audience
  • Companies we collaborate with and their audience – members
  • Organic traffic to our websites – visitors
• Serve
  • Facebook – Followers, Likes, Shares
  • Instagram – Followers, Likes, Shares
  • Podcast – subscriptions
• Nurture
  • Blog – subscriptions, opens
  • Email nurture – # emails sent
  • Podcast – subscriptions, downloads
  • YouTube – subscriptions (TBD), views
• Encourage
  • Seminars – # attending, pre- and post-event survey feedback
  • Webinars – # attending, pre- and post-event survey feedback
  • Individual tools – # delivered
  • Tool Kits – # delivered
  • eBooks – # delivered
• Equip
  • Seminars – # attending, pre- and post-event survey feedback
  • Webinars – # attending, pre- and post-event survey feedback
  • Courses sold
  • Books sold (audio books, study guides)

Behavior Measurement

• Collect testimonials for anecdotal validation (annual)
• Focus group evaluations for qualitative feedback (annual)
• Surveys of followers for broader “quantitative-like” input (annual)

Measurement Background

We are in the process of developing the skills to use analytics with our digital platforms to assess how we are doing on both content and delivery. We are building our plan for metrics-based learning and will use those processes for The Prevention Project.

At in-person training sessions, we distribute a feedback survey to solicit ratings of the training and capture strengths and areas of improvement. We use the feedback to improve future training.

We gather testimonials from people who have been through the training to help us communicate the value of our training and shape the way we deliver future material.

We tested several forms of delivery using videos and podcasts. We distributed prototypes of these training tools to our blog audience and had them provide feedback via the online Survey Monkey tool. This allowed us to statistically evaluate results and improve our forms of delivery.

 

Learning

Our learning strategy is to intentionally select and utilize principles and techniques that are evidence-based, evidence-informed, and proven through the experience of others.

STEPS Ministries utilizes secondary research to apply the best and most useful findings and content of industry-leading organizations and individuals. We synthesize material from these subject matter experts into a form that is easy to understand and put into action.

Many of the recovery principles and techniques we utilize have been in practice for decades and have worked for millions of people all over the world.

We integrate Biblical understanding and principles into some of our material that applies the wisdom of the most respected and well-used “life improvement manual” in history.

Much of our material on wellness and stress is directly based on work from Organizational Wellness & Learning Systems (OWLS). Evidence-based OWLS programs were cited in the U.S. Surgeon General’s report on “Facing Addiction in America.”

Our Executive Director, Steve Ward, has been trained and certified on OWLS programs for “Resilience and Thriving: The Secret Power of Stress” and “Empowered Health Consciousness” and these programs are also certified by the National Wellness Institute (NWI).

For many in-person seminars, we utilized written survey feedback from attendees to improve. This feedback has been extremely positive, e.g. our last quantitative ratings were a 9.3 out of a 10.0-point scale.

We have surveyed our audience for feedback on content. We conducted SurveyMonkey assessments on articles, videos, and podcasts and used that feedback to adjust our content.

We are developing the skills to use analytics in Facebook, Google, and other digital platforms to assess how we are doing on content and delivery. We are building our plan for metrics-based learning and will document that process for periodic assessment and improvement.

We are developing the skills for A/B comparison testing of content and delivery mechanisms. This involves running a test comparing 2 options and using analytics to assess which is most effective. This testing will become an ongoing part of what we do, and members of our team will continue to focus on learning and optimizing our content and delivery.

Our Content Frameworks, STEPS and PACES, integrate much of the best learning from decades of experience and learning from subject matter experts in addiction, recovery, and mental health.

The Journey methodology is based on several years of research about mental health and substance abuse. That journey was used as a structure for how we help people at different stages by delivering content to them effectively. Steve Ward had many years of experience in Content and Digital Marketing at IBM which has informed this approach for STEPS.

We utilize consultants and other experts to augment our learning. We hired an agency to teach us the effective delivery of digital content. We use another to help us record effective audio content. A third agency advised us on the design of this project. Steve Ward also utilizes a network of other consultants and experts to share their learning with us in a wide number of areas.

We will create new content that translates other evidence-based methods into practical guidance anyone can utilize. Examples include: SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment), TSF (Twelve Step Facilitation), WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan}, Motivational Interviewing, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), and Mindfulness Training.

The Prevention Project will include 10 interviews with industry-leading subject matter experts to provide significant new learning on the prevention of mental health and addiction issues.

 

Resources and Funding

To execute The Prevention Project will require $60,000 in these areas:

• Content Development – 50% of a curriculum creator for 3 months
• Content Creation – 50% of a writer/editor for 6 months
• Digital Products and Delivery – 25% of a product designer for 6 months
• Audio Content – Agency for audio book and podcast
• Book Content – Publishing and related resources
• Online Training Center – 10% of 2 technical contractors for 6 months
• Project Management – 15% of a project manager for 12 months
• Partnering Outreach – 20% of a communications/event lead for 12 months
• Digital Outreach – Agency and marketing to reach 100,000 people
  • Total cost for The Prevention Project: $60,000

STEPS Ministries is prepared to cover $35,000 of the cost of The Prevention Project.

We are looking for one (or more) Foundation Sponsors to donate the remaining $25,000.