Wyoming Department of Health – Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center

Wyoming State Opioid Response Grant Evaluation and Quality Improvement Analysis

Matthew Wagner — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 21:25:46 +0000

WYSAC has been chosen to assess the implementation and outcomes of the 2024 State Opioid Response (SOR) Grant for the State of Wyoming. Included in this evaluation is a comprehensive analysis of past data related to opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment and prevention programs.

Wyoming Prevention Needs Assessment

Eric Canen — Tue, 01 Oct 2024 21:23:55 +0000

The Wyoming Prevention Needs Assessment (PNA), sponsored by the Wyoming Department of Health and facilitated by the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming, has been collecting and reporting data on student behaviors and perceptions since the 2005-2006 school year. The PNA tracks the prevalence of alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use among students in grades 6-12, as well as a wide array of attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions related to substance use. Over time, the scope of the PNA has expanded to include data on mental health, school climate, and availability of social support.
The PNA provides essential data that supports the development and evaluation of prevention strategies, interventions, and policies across the state of Wyoming. Schools, school districts, and communities utilize this data to tailor prevention efforts to their specific needs. Data from the survey is available publicly at both the state and county levels, with most participating school districts able to access their own student data.
The most recent data collection and reporting effort, under the current contract, is for the 2024 cycle, continuing the long-standing commitment to informing public health and educational initiatives in Wyoming.

Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Toolkit

Sandra Biller — Fri, 20 Nov 2020 21:33:05 +0000

The Wyoming Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Toolkit is a collaborative effort between the Wyoming Department of Health and the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming (WYSAC). Funded through the Wyoming Grant to Prevent Prescription Drug/Opioid Overdose-Related Deaths (PDO), this project is intended to make information about prescription drug abuse and related prevention strategies more accessible.

This website aims to provide resources for prevention workers and other stakeholders throughout the lifecycles of prevention efforts. It is modeled after the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), a five-step, cyclical process to help stakeholders understand and address issues of substance abuse and addiction in their communities. The SPF model includes the following components:

Assessment – Using current data to understand local needs
Capacity – Building partnerships and resources to have capacity to address prevention needs
Planning – Understanding best practices related to these needs and how to effectively implement them
Implementation – Delivering the best practices or programs selected in the previous step
Evaluation – Taking a look at how practices were implemented and whether they led to the intended outcome

Regardless of what step a community is at in its efforts to prevent prescription drug abuse, this website will provide the information and resources they need to get started, or to enhance work that’s already being done.

Stimulant Use in Wyoming

Rodney Wambeam — Thu, 24 Sep 2020 19:00:45 +0000

The State of Wyoming expressed concerns that stimulant use, in particular amphetamine and methamphetamine use, was a potentially rising problem that communities and the state were having to address. WYSAC, as part of a contract with the Wyoming Department of Health, was tasked with gathering and reporting all available state-level data and information about this topic. The results from that data collection effort indicated that there was a gap in stimulant-related data. Specifically, consumption of illicit and licit stimulants remained low or was decreasing in recent years; yet, the consequences related to stimulant use were increasing.

Based on surveys of youth and adults, only small proportions of them reported having used stimulants in the past month, which has remained relatively stable over time. However, the number of admissions to treatment, methamphetamine-related arrests, and overdoses were rising. Ultimately, the report concludes that gathering more data about the risk factors related to stimulant use and misuse would bridge the knowledge gap between these divergent findings. It would also help policymakers and prevention professionals better target their support and interventions to address these concerns.

This report’s information is presented to allow the Wyoming government, community coalitions, and other stakeholders to choose and implement targeted strategies and solutions for prevention and treatment. To read the report in detail, see https://bit.ly/wystim. A condensed issue brief outlining the key findings of this report is found at https://bit.ly/short-wy-stim. For a one-page fact sheet highlighting key findings, go to https://bit.ly/wy-stim-fact.

This project is a part of the Wyoming State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) supported by the Wyoming Department of Health, Public Health Division, with funds from the 2015 Strategic Prevention Framework Partnerships for Sucess Grant by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

More People are Drinking During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Matthew Wagner — Fri, 14 Aug 2020 17:19:44 +0000

WYSAC recently completed an internet survey involving behavior and attitudes toward COVID-19. We found that both the sale and consumption of alcohol has increased from February to April 2020, during the pandemic. After governments and employers put into place COVID-19 mitigation efforts, 17% of people reported increased alcohol consumption. Approximately 60% of that increase was due to boredom, while almost 46% and 44% were due to isolation and stress, respectively. Moreover, when looking at sales data, there were 5% more wine and spirit sales in Wyoming between the first few months of 2020 than in 2019, despite a significant decrease in the number of eligible liquor licenses. Continued monitoring will help us understand if these rises in alcohol use are temporary or whether they represent a lasting concern that may affect health in Wyoming. To see a fact sheet of the survey results in detail, go to the following link: https://bit.ly/wy-alc-covid

Evaluation of State Efforts to Help Adults Prevent and Manage Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke

Laran H. Despain — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 23:39:48 +0000

Since 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grant Improving the Health of Americans through Prevention and Management of Diabetes and Heart Disease and Stroke (CDC-DP18-1815) has funded state efforts to help adults prevent and manage diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. The CDC has required states conduct an evaluation of this work. WYSAC has contracts to do this evaluation for three states: North Dakota, Wyoming, and New Mexico.

Under contract with each state, WYSAC is evaluating this CDC-funded work by creating annual evaluation plans, forming evaluation indicators for process and outcome measures, and reporting progress on the evaluation indicators. Over the course of the evaluation, WYSAC will assess the approach, efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability, and impact of each state’s efforts.

The Division of Health Promotion at the North Dakota Department of Health been working with health care providers and other less traditional partners to help North Dakota residents prevent and manage type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. WYSAC will be helping the Division examine the effectiveness of working with new partners in this work.

WYSAC will work with North Dakota and the Chronic Disease Prevention Program at the Wyoming Department of Health to evaluate their work in the context of working in very rural states with severe winter weather, a population dispersed across large areas with few towns, and limited infrastructure for telehealth services. Although the work is not a direct continuation, WYSAC’s work in Wyoming is related to the previous evaluation of Wyoming’s CDC-funded State Public Health Actions to Prevent and Control Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity and Associated Risk Factors and Promote School Health.

WYSAC does similar work for the New Mexico Department of Health, described here.

Evaluation of Wyoming’s State Public Health Actions to Prevent and Control Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity and Associated Risk Factors and Promote School Health

Laran H. Despain — Tue, 25 Sep 2018 20:56:07 +0000

Between 2013 and 2018, the Wyoming Department of Health, Chronic Disease Prevention Program, had a federal grant, the State Public Health Actions to Prevent and Control Diabetes, Heart Disease, Obesity and Associated Risk Factors and Promote School Health (1305).

WYSAC evaluated this CDC-funded work by creating annual evaluation plans, forming evaluation indicators for process and outcome measures, and writing extensive evaluation reports highlighting progress on the evaluation indicators. We also conducted annual partnership assessments to measure synergy in Wyoming.

Over the course of three reports, we used qualitative data to assess operational efficiencies and inefficiencies, to track changes over time, and to make recommendations on how to improve synergy. In the last year of 1305, WYSAC collected, analyzed, and interpreted data to compose all six health impact statements for Wyoming to submit to the CDC.

Wyoming Tobacco Prevention and Control Program Evaluation

Tiffany Comer Cook — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 21:26:24 +0000

WYSAC’s evaluation of the Wyoming Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (TPCP) assesses the effectiveness of the program and provides information for continuous program improvement. WYSAC provides county-level data to help local coalitions understand community needs related to TPCP issues, and to track programmatic outcomes. WYSAC also provides state-level data so the Wyoming Department of Health can make data-driven decisions about state-level TPCP efforts.

The website for the evaluation, including an online survey data tool, is https://wysac.uwyo.edu/wyomingtobacco/

Prevention Works! Reducing Underage Drinking in Wyoming

Rodney Wambeam — Fri, 11 May 2018 19:49:41 +0000

This documentary details the history of substance abuse prevention in Wyoming and how it led to a 40% decrease in underage drinking. It includes interviews with WYSAC as well as important state and local stakeholders in the prevention system.

It documents data showing the change in underage drinking, it; but, more importantly, it tells the story of how local coalitions worked with State and Federal funding to impact the problem. It provides context to more than 15 year of work by prevention professionals and local coalitions to keep Wyoming at the cutting edge of prevention.

Telling the Story of Opioid Use in Wyoming Report

Rodney Wambeam — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 23:13:11 +0000

The purpose of this report is to document opioid-related data sources and indicators that currently exist with the aim of telling the story of prescription opioid use in the state of Wyoming. Evaluators at the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center (WYSAC) have presented the results of the data inventory throughout this report organized by opioid-related indicators, with key findings and general notes about the data source listed.

Additionally, descriptive information about and external links to each data source are catalogued in the appendix. National data are presented here, as well as state and some local level data.

When possible, the state data are compared to the national data. WYSAC at the University of Wyoming completed this project as part of a contractual agreement with the Wyoming Department of Health, Public Health Division (WDH-PHD).

[button type=”success” size=”lg” link=”https://wysac.uwyo.edu/wysac/reports/View/6665″]Download the Report [PDF][/button]

The Value of Prevention: Potential Cost Savings from Delaying Youth Alcohol Use in Wyoming

Rodney Wambeam — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 18:24:02 +0000

In 2017, economists at WYSAC completed a study of the value of prevention in Wyoming. This research began in 2012 when WYSAC was able to estimate the societal cost of alcohol in Wyoming at $843 million in 2010. Researchers also knew than since the prevention of underage drinking began in 2001, Wyoming communities have contributed to a 40% decrease in past month alcohol use by teenagers.

Putting these together and using peer reviewed literature on delaying the onset of alcohol use, WYSAC estimates that, in 2014 alone, local efforts prevented 389 students from developing alcohol use disorders. This saves Wyoming $122 million over the lives of those individuals.

To read the full report go to https://wysac.uwyo.edu/wysac/reports/View/5556.

Wyoming Synar Inspections

Laran H. Despain — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 13:06:41 +0000

As part of Wyoming’s efforts to keep minors from buying tobacco products, the Department of Health contracts with the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center at the University of Wyoming to conduct what is known as the Synar inspections. In 1992, the United States Congress enacted the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Reorganization Act, which includes an amendment (section 1926) aimed at decreasing youth access to tobacco. This Synar Amendment requires states to adopt and enforce state laws prohibiting the sale of tobacco to youth under the age of 18. To be in compliance, states must also conduct annual, random, and unannounced inspections to ensure compliance with the state law and develop a strategy for achieving a retailer violation rate (RVR) of less than 20.0%. Since 2003, the Wyoming Department of Health, Public Health Division, has contracted with the Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center (WYSAC) at the University of Wyoming to conduct Wyoming’s annual Synar Inspection Study to assess tobacco retailers’ compliance with the law.

Wyoming Tobacco Prevention & Control Evaluation Website

Tiffany Comer Cook — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 22:03:22 +0000

The Wyoming Tobacco Prevention & Control Evaluation website provides information to coalitions and communities in the areas of tobacco use and prevalence. With interactive data tools, county-level evaluation and analysis, Wyoming TPCP is a resource for state and local assessment and evaluation for programs and help make data-driven decisions in the area of tobacco prevention.

Wyoming TPCP was created using WordPress for content management and utilizes open-source technologies such as High Charts for data interactivity.

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Wyoming Prevention Needs Assessment Survey

Robert Leduc — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 20:06:28 +0000

The Wyoming Prevention Needs Assessment Survey allows visitors to explore survey data and interactively compare trend results, demographics and indicators. Users can search data, create charts and export customized datasets.

The PNA is a survey of Wyoming middle and high school students focusing on attitudes, beliefs and perceptions about alcohol, tobacco and drug use. Data is used by schools, districts, communities and the state of Wyoming to evaluate prevention strategies and policies.

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Wyoming Court Supervised Treatment

Robert Leduc — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 14:56:29 +0000

Wyoming Court Supervised Treatment is a web-based application developed by Wyoming Survey & Analysis Center for the Wyoming Department of Health, Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services Division. It is designed to help Wyoming court supervised treatment programs manage case data and workflow and generate accurate , and comprehensive reports.