Expanding Alcohol & Marijuana Awareness and Education for New Hampshire Women

In New Hampshire, there is a high rate of substance use among women of reproductive age, accompanied by a low perception of harm and a lack of consistent educational messaging. In an effort to continue to support and empower women, the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the NH Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services funded the expansion of the campaign Today is For Me. Our 2020 work will include: 

1. Evaluating the provider toolkit for enhancing patient conversations about marijuana and alcohol use during and after pregnancy. We will also develop new education materials for the toolkit.
2. Establishing a communications sub-committee of the Perinatal Substance Exposure Task Force and supporting the Eating/Sleeping Consoling Learning Collaborative to identify and develop communication materials on such topics such as Plan of Safe Care implementation and breastfeeding for women who have opioid use disorders.
3. Assessing practices and knowledge at therapeutic cannabis dispensaries and producing training and materials to deter marijuana use among pregnant women.
4. Evaluating and reinvigorating the award-winning campaign Today is For Me to educate pregnant women on the health effects of marijuana and alcohol use.

Today is For Me. encourages individual behavior change with messages that motivate women who are or trying to become pregnant to adopt healthy behaviors. This work supports the provider community and entities that are working to provide drug and alcohol use prevention, treatment, and recovery services for pregnant and women of childbearing age; reduce fetal alcohol syndrome cases and exposure of infants to drugs and alcohol; and address substance misuse with their patients/clients. 

JSI’s health communication work and the work of the JSI NH Center for Excellence diminish the factors that make people vulnerable to substance misuse. We work to prevent, treat, and change the culture that supports misuse and addiction.