Enable Accessibility

Dr. Stephen Chapman, MD of the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth talks to one of his patients.

Dr. Stephen Chapman, MD of the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth talks to one of his patients.

Can we talk?

Regular visits with doctors can keep teens off drugs and alcohol

By Lois R. Shea, Senior Writer and Communications Officer  |  

New Hampshire kids are talking to their doctors about substance use. And that’s a really good thing. More than ever before, kids are getting screened for substance use in medical settings in a way that is consistent and effective.

The evidence-based “screening, brief intervention and referral to treatment” (SBIRT) protocol has been implemented in 23 medical facilities across the state with help from the Charitable Foundation and a $2.25 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation. More than 10,000 young people are projected to receive the screening by mid-2017.

Watch the video below about why SBIRT is working, and how it helps kids and their doctors have the conversations about substance use that keep kids healthy and ultimately save lives.

To learn more about Screen & Intervene, a New Hampshire Youth SBIRT initiative, visit www.sbirtnh.org. And, to learn more about our investments in substance use prevention, treatment and recovery, visit www.nhcf.org/sud.


Community Impact News, , , ,

Related Stories


Darryl and Michelle were helped by expanded Medicaid. (Photo by Cheryl Senter)

Expanding Medicaid changed lives

How a push to change policy got people the care they needed.

a grandmother hugs her daughter in a living room

Kinship caregivers ‘step up’ for young people

An estimated 8,000 children in New Hampshire – many of whom have parents who struggle with, or have lost their lives to substance use disorders – are being raised by grandparents, relatives or family friends. The nonprofit Step Up Parents offers support to those families.

Two young people, seated on a couch, smile while engaged in conversation with one another.

Children’s Resiliency Retreat helps young people tap into strength, community, joy

Program at the Boys and Girls Club of the Souhegan Valley helps young people whose lives have been affected by a family member's substance use disorder.

Lisa Vasquez of the Nashua Department of Public Health and Rafael Almonte, owner of La Fama 2 Barber Shop.

Speaking Our Minds

Nashua public health department offering podcast in multiple languages to help reduce stigma associated with talking about mental health, and to connect people with the resources they need.

Charitable Foundation President Dick Ober [Photo by Cheryl Senter]

A transformative gift

Oliver Hubbard left $43.5 million to the Foundation to address substance use disorders and related mental and physical health issues.

A group of people having a meeting at a table as seen through a partially opened door

An evolution

An integrated response to mental health and substance use disorders is key to promoting health and well-being — and to saving lives. As the science in the field has evolved, so has our work.

Arts improving mental health for NH youth

Mental health challenges are affecting many young people. The Magnify Voices Expressive Art Contest gives youth the opportunity to use visual arts, writing and video to address those challenges through artistic expression.

John Burns of SOS Recovery Community Organization. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Helping people in recovery thrive

It’s not enough to simply serve those in recovery, we need to also identify the people who use drugs in our community and listen to their trauma, meet them where they dream and do so with compassion, radical acceptance and dignity.

Day Martinez, who benefited from Camp Mariposa as a child, now mentors others. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

A New Hampshire where children can thrive

Camp Mariposa Nashua, run by the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Nashua, helps lessen that burden for children whose young lives have been deeply affected by a family member’s substance misuse.

Traci Fowler, the Charitable Foundation’s director of behavioral health discusses the Risk Behavioral Survey (YRBS) findings. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

New data point to behavioral health challenges among young people

Traci Fowler, Foundation director of behavioral health, on New Hampshire’s 2021 Youth Risk Behavior Survey: Data show behavioral health challenges among New Hampshire’s children and adolescents are real, and they are widespread. But importantly, they are also treatable, and oftentimes preventable. Prevention works, treatment is effective and people recover.

Traci Fowler, the Charitable Foundation’s director of behavioral health, co-chairs the Budget Task Force of the Governor’s Commission on Alcohol and Other Drugs and is a member of New Hampshire’s Opioid Abatement Commission and Children’s System of Care Advisory Council. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Reason to hope

Traci Fowler, the Charitable Foundation’s director of behavioral health, on the current substance use crisis, why an integrated approach to addressing mental health and substance use makes sense, and promising practices that offer reason for hope.

State House, Concord, NH. (Photo by Cheryl Senter.)

Why the Youth Risk Behavior Survey matters for young people’s health

Charitable Foundation opposes bill that would undermine the availability of reliable and valid data that is critical to helping keep New Hampshire’s young people healthy.


↑