Significance of the Mixed Method Strategy

Mixed-Method Justification

Although scientific methods have been endorsed in drug prevention services, some programs are implemented before the establishment of the evidence-based objectives and goals. This paper seeks to share what counselors, teachers, and other relevant bodies can do to support drug abuse prevention among high-school students. For starters, the need to put set project objectives and goals cannot be overstated. The students at risk also need to be mapped out with a scientifically proven framework. The mixed methods research approach, the overarching project objectives, and goals were set among the various stakeholders (Dell et al., 2013).

Project goals

1. To promote the communities, youth, and schools through bolstering the development resources that the youth can access to prevent the deviant tendencies of alcoholism, drug abuse complications, and the mental health issues that arise from building therapeutic relationships, education, asset development, and community empowerment.

2. To embed in the school culture by blending with youth, the community, and families. These efforts include development projects for the community while noting that the Outreach Worker Service communities vary in their engagement stages.

Outreach Worker Service objectives

1. construct relationships that are therapeutic through

i. committing the students that are at risk to some tasks via an outreach worker

ii. promoting the counseling programs targeting students at risk through using caregivers where needed

iii. applying the necessary therapeutic instruments to enhance the wellbeing of students

iv. identifying the needs of clients and channeling them to appropriate referrals

v. cooperating with the staff of the school on the processes used to treat students at risk

vi. supporting the community as they may raise the need and as time may allow

2. grow and use the assets of the students by

i. creating life skills for programming

ii. creating chances to apply the life skills using experiential learning

3. Provide Education through

The staff

i. help the staff to meet their curriculum needs for health

ii. help staff to meet the outreach worker/staff-determined student needs

The Youth

i. Facing the students and their families to share information on mental health and substance abuse concerns based on the individual assessment findings

ii. Creating awareness among students in face to face group sessions in class

iii. Operating as an educational and informational resource to both students and their families

Community

i. Mobilizing the community on student health issues

3. Build Community- there is a need for concerted effort to construct a philosophy for children

i. Promoting effective networks and wellbeing among community members

There will be an application of a mixed-methods approach, beginning with asking the stakeholders to state the program objectives and goals and the learners' targeted population. A determination of the theoretical guidelines' alignment will be made by reviewing the OWS activities to date. Collecting data and analyzing the project's evaluation will shed light on i. determining the most urgent goals and objectives of the project, ii. Identifying the youth learner population and how much OWS engages with them iii. Determining and aligning the Outreach Worker Service with scientifically designed Positive Youth Development theoretical guidelines. The collection of data from the beginning will be drawn from a range of sources, using a mixed-methods approach. The Mixed methods approach has found favor with some researchers because they believe it helps them deal with all the program evaluation stages and evaluate programs for substance and drug abuse (Dell et al., 2013).

It is necessary to seek the knowledge of experts to develop drug prevention planning for the youth. However, attention should also be paid to professional services in their dying phases using an evidence-based solution to revive them and sustain them. If there is no goal for evidence-based options at the onset of a program, it will help draw insight from the program's personnel, staff of the school, and the administrators. The latter options can help to theoretical linkages after the implementation of the program. It forms the basis for evaluating the success of an intervention (Dell et al., 2013).

Conceptual Framework

PYD, which is the shorthand for Positive Youth Development, is a theory cutting across multiple disciplines. It recognizes the positive aspects of the youth and the settings they come from. The objective is to promote the continued growth and development of youth development initiatives. It has a special focus on adolescents and has had success in handling substance abuse (Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, 2010). PYD aims at reducing high-risk behavior because it is the only way of enhancing wellbeing for the youth. PYD is built on three tenets, i.e., universality, strength, and focus on systems. It believes that all youth can benefit from the program. It cuts across individuals, families, and communities and uses the youth as a resource (Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, 2010).

PYD also seeks to enhance the developmental resource, which synthesizes the systems approach aspect of the theory and the strength quality into a measurable evidence base with a clear structure. The Search Institute has exemplified the assets which are focused on enhancing the wellbeing of the youth. These are commonly considered basic foundational rocks for healthy adolescents and even child development (Benson, Lerner&Silbereisen, 2007). The development asset method is powered by resiliency concepts, protective aspects, and research that points out 20 internal and 20 external assets. These have been confirmed to 1. Stop risky behaviors, 2. Blend the positive outcomes, and 3. Promote resiliency among the youth. Research shows that the more the assets of development a young person can access, the more positive their development chance. PYD emphasizes protective factors for the youth (Dell et al., 2013)

Using expert knowledge in the efforts to create drug prevention plans is critical. In doing so, evidence-based practice must be used to evaluate the programs. Addiction programming and mental health should be linked with theoretical foundations because they are effective measuring tools for the program's intervention successes and evaluation (Glanz, Rimer, & Viswanath, 2008). PYD was picked on as a potential OWS evidence base. When OWS and PYD are compared systematically, there was an almost identical aspect of universality, strength base, focus on systems, and asset promotion.

The OWS complements the aspect of the universality of PYD. It identifies all the young people on a risk continuum for substance abuse, drugs, and mental health issues. The low-risk youth, for instance, and reined in with early prevention measures. PYD also recognizes the diversity aspect of the youth too. Unique factors of some special groups are also addressed (Dell et al., 2013).

OWS supports a systems approach via its focus on the youth around. The immediate community and the school are specifically targeted. According to PYD, youth development should be blended with various interactive contexts such as family, community, school, culture, society, and history. OWS is meant to improve the health of the learners while enhancing the wellbeing of the school. These are informed by the philosophy that "to raise a child, it takes a village" (Benson et al., 1998)

OWS also recognizes the family as part of the system. Family counseling sessions are part of the OWS strategy to build relationships with school and community. OWS also notes that the determinants for health-related to systems affect the wellbeing of many learners and their risk status. Thus, they should be noted (Dell et al., 2013).

PYD is powered by its base on the view that the youth are a resource that should be nurtured. It encourages the development of the inherent positive qualities of the youth for gainful purposes. It also encourages the view that the inherent capacity of the youth for wellbeing should be promoted. A framework based on strength is apparent in the OWS goals to enhance the school, the community, and the youth in general. In short, the aim to reduce drug and substance abuse among the youth is closely woven with the need to improve their wellbeing. For such reasons, OWS aims to enhance positive traits as opposed to preventing the negative ones. Thus, it is in line with the philosophy by PYD advocates that increasing the positive attributes will reduce the negative (Dell et al., 2013).