The State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW) was initiated in 2006 by the North Dakota Department of Human Services, Division of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. Funding for the project is provided by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The mission of the North Dakota SEOW is to utilize relevant state, tribal, and local data to guide substance use prevention planning, programming and evaluation. The Core Workgroup for North Dakota’s SEOW project includes staff personnel at the North Dakota Department of Human Services (NDDHS; Administration; Bismarck, ND), University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health (CRH; Epidemiology; Grand Forks, ND), DLN Consulting, Inc. (DLN; Facilitation; Dickinson, ND), and North Dakota State University (NDSU; Evaluation; Fargo, ND). The key NDDHS Workgroup members who provide oversight and direction for the project include Don Wright, Dr. Mariah Tenamoc, and Charlotte Olson. The CRH Epidemiology Team is led by Dr. Kyle Muus. Deb Nelson, DLN Consulting, serves as the project facilitator. Lindsey Bergeron, NDSU, is the project evaluator. The work on this project is guided by feedback, comments, advice, and data assistance from the SEOW Workgroup, a 48-member group with representation from a variety of state government, tribal, university, and advocacy agencies.
Goals
Systematically analyze the causes and consequences of the usage of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs (ATOD) to effectively and efficiently utilize prevention resources
Promote decision making based on reliable data throughout the State substance use prevention system
Facilitate interagency and community collaboration
Provide a mechanism for exchange, access, and utilization of data across organizations related to substance use and consequences
Activities
Monthly meetings of the State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup.
