Prevention Plus Wellness

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Prevention Plus Wellness

Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW), LLC, headquartered in St.

Practical evidence-based substance use/misuse prevention programs and training which promote healthy lifestyles, mental health, performance and happiness for youth and young adults. Augustine, Florida, is a family-run nation-wide education business providing brief evidence-based multi-health behavior youth, young adult and adult programs, parent training programs and multi-media campaigns for improving the mental and physical wellness of individuals and communities. PPW's "whole-health" programs address multiple co-occurring health risks in single interventions addressing alcohol, marijuana, e-cigarette, or opioid and fentanyl use, as well as physical inactivity, poor nutrition, lack of sleep and daily stress. Our one-session Screening and Brief Interventions (SBIs), including Screening, Brief Intervention & Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) programs, are a perfect solution to providing effective prevention in busy schools, organizations, clinics, and communities, as well as a cost-effective strategy for motivating youths’ healthy habit and identity development through built-in multi-behavior goal setting and monitoring. PPW program manuals include easy-to-follow scripted protocols to provide to youth and adults individually and in groups. Online and paper pretest and posttest and instructor's surveys allow providers to monitor program fidelity and effectiveness and online self-paced program implementer courses permit practitioner training at their convenience.

01/22/2026

Sleep Loss and Youth Substance Use Disorders

A new study published in Behavioral Sciences (2025) reviewed research on sleep loss and substance use in adolescents.

The authors concluded that the existing research suggests:
• A combination of biological factors, such as a delayed sleep phase and social aspects, including school schedules and the frequent use of electronic devices often reduce sleep duration and quality.
• The underdeveloped prefrontal cortex, associated with the heightened impulsiveness contributes to increased risk-taking behaviors, including substance use.
• This impulsiveness, in addition to recurrent sleep issues, makes adolescents particularly vulnerable to the development of SUDs.
• The bidirectional interactions between substance use and sleep disruption cause detrimental effects that can continue into adulthood.

These findings indicate that prevention providers have a unique opportunity to address adolescent substance use by targeting sleep quantity and quality.

By promoting sleep among youth, prevention specialists may be able to strengthen substance use prevention outcomes and improve mental health.

Read the full report: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/2/220

01/20/2026

Prevention Provider’s Role in Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors for School Athletes

A new study published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine (2025) reported on a systematic review of research examining the six health behaviors (i.e., Pillars) associated with Lifestyle Medicine for high school athletes.

The review underscored the urgent need for targeted interventions such as nutrition education programs, sleep hygiene initiatives, and mindfulness-based stress management tailored to high school athletes.

The authors concluded that addressing these gaps within the framework of Lifestyle Medicine can enhance both performance and long-term well-being.

The authors also recommended collaborating with schools and athletic departments to offer seminars on substance use prevention, nutrition, and mental health.

We believe that prevention specialists can play a key role in promoting the six Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine among youth and young adults by providing evidence-based substance use/misuse programs that integrate the promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviors.

Prevention interventions should be implemented to student athletes, as well as all youth, for improving their performance in sports and school as well as mental and physical well-being.

Read the full study: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/15598276251388632

01/19/2026

https://mailchi.mp/8e9b17dadc25/please-join-usPlease Join Us!

01/16/2026

Physical Activity for Preventing Youth Substance Use

A new study published in Education Sciences (2025) reported on a systematic review of research on the effects of physical activity, exercise or sports-based interventions on substance use among young people and adolescents.

The results provided scientific evidence of the benefits of physical activity in preventing and reducing substance use, most significantly in interventions based on yoga and structured physical activity.

The authors concluded that the study findings about the importance of implementing programs that consider the systematic and deliberate practice of physical activity, exercise, or sport could be used by prevention specialists.

We at Prevention Plus Wellness agree that all prevention and health professionals can play a critical role in promoting physical activity, movement and sports participation that may reduce substance use/misuse and improve the mental wellbeing of young people in the US.

Read the entire study: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/15/3/348

01/12/2026

Drug Prevention Plus Wellness for Youth Sports & Fitness

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), sport can be a powerful tool to engage communities and prevent crime, violence and potentially drug use among youth.

In fact, sport, and physical activity more broadly, can be effective in promoting wellbeing and health, including mental health and reducing the risk of depression, as well as improve the cognitive functions and academic outcomes of young people and adolescents: https://www.unodc.org/dohadeclaration/en/news/2021/04/leveraging-sport-for-substance-use-prevention_-reviewing-the-evidence-at-the-commission-on-narcotic-drugs.html

Benefits & Limitations of Youth Sports

The benefits of youth sports participation are clear, including a broad range of positive mental, emotional, social, physical, educational, and career outcomes:https://odphp.health.gov/sites/default/files/2020-09/YSS_Report_OnePager_2020-08-31_web.pdf

But evidence is mixed as to whether sports can be effective in preventing substance use, and in some cases sports participation is linked to increased use of substances:https://www.ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2019-04/CCSA-Youth-Sport-and-Sustance-Use-Summary-2017-en.pdf

Learn more: https://preventionpluswellness.com/blogs/news/drug-prevention-plus-wellness-for-youth-sports-fitness

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), sport can be a powerful tool to engage communities and prevent crime, violence and potentially drug use among youth. In fact, sport, and physical activity more broadly, can be effective in promoting wellbeing and health, including me...

01/12/2026

New for You in 2026! - https://mailchi.mp/e566e4c9b2ac/new-for-you-in-2026

01/03/2026

Happy New Year!

Please consider teaming up with Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) in 2026 to prevent drug use and promote healthy lifestyle behaviors and mental wellbeing of youth in your region.

Here are 10 ways you and your organization can partner with PPW: https://preventionpluswellness.com/pages/prevention-partnership-opportunities

Single session substance abuse prevention programs and training promoting wellness for youth and young adults

12/23/2025

With Youth Mental Health Canada – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

12/22/2025

The “Big 3” Healthy Behaviors and Well-being in Young Adults

A new study published in PLOS One (2025) investigated the relationships between three key health behaviors—sleep quality, physical activity, and dietary choices—and psychological well-being among young adults ages 17–25.

The findings highlighted better sleep quality as the strongest predictor of well-being, followed by fruit and vegetable consumption.

Physical activity also emerged as a reliable predictor of well-being.

These data highlight the importance of the “big three” health behaviors in well-being among young adults.

The authors concluded that this study provides evidence that lifestyle choices are promising avenues for potential intervention to help young adults thrive.

Like the study we recently reported on examining the “big 3” health behaviors and adolescent well-being (https://preventionpluswellness.com/blogs/news/the-big-3-healthy-behaviors-for-youth-mental-health-wellbeing), this study further underscores the need for multi-health behavior interventions to improve the mental health of young people.

These studies suggest that prevention specialists should provide interventions and opportunities for youth to improve their “big 3” healthy lifestyle behaviors along with providing strategies to prevent substance use to enhance the broader mental health and well-being of young people.

Read the full report: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0329689

12/19/2025

Emotional Wellness & Drug Prevention

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Single session substance abuse prevention programs and training promoting wellness for youth and young adults

12/18/2025

The “Big-3” Healthy Behaviors for Youth Mental Health & Wellbeing

A research article published in the Frontiers in Psychiatry (2024) examined associations between the “big 3” health-enhancing behaviors of nutrition, sleep and physical activity along with mindfulness and social connectedness, and psychological distress/wellbeing in early adolescents.

The authors reported that early adolescent nutrition, sleep quality, and mindfulness should be prioritized in efforts to reduce psychological distress, and physical activity prioritized as a protective factor for wellbeing.

In addition, they recommended expanding the “big three” healthy behaviors to include mindfulness and social connectedness.

The authors cited the need for interventions that target multiple healthy behaviors comprehensively and tailor strategies to the needs of early adolescents to foster positive mental health outcomes.

This study adds to the increasingly growing literature indicating that key health habits, particularly the “big-3” along with others are critical protective factors for youth mental health and wellness.

Evidence-based multi-health behavior interventions such as the SPORT Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) program for adolescents and InShape PPW for young adults address the “big-3” healthy habits as well as stress control/relaxation behaviors such as mindfulness, along with avoiding alcohol and drug use.

These types of comprehensive interventions are increasingly shown to be needed to cost-effectively address multiple health-related behaviors for improving the mental health and wellbeing of young people.

Read the study article: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1413268/full

Learn more about PPW interventions: https://preventionpluswellness.com

Single session substance abuse prevention programs and training promoting wellness for youth and young adults

12/15/2025

NEW: Calling All Drug Prevention Organizations

Team up with Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) to conduct an evaluation of our evidence-based SPORT PPW program in your region next Spring, 2026.

Selected partners will receive free program manuals and materials and online training for program implementers. Implementers can receive a cash gift card at the end of the evaluation.

SPORT PPW programs consist of a single 45-minute motivational lesson presented to youth individually or in groups aimed at preventing youth substance use/misuse while promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors associated with mental and physical wellbeing.

To partner with PPW, the evaluation design should include:

1. A minimum of 300 adolescents (either high school or middle school aged youth) from one or more schools, school districts, sports programs, clinics, wellness centers, etc.
2. Half of the adolescents will complete an online pretest, receive the 45-minute SPORT PPW program, and complete an online posttest approximately 3 months after program implementation (end of semester).
3. The other half of the adolescents will complete an online pretest and an online posttest approximately 4 months after the pretest implementation (end of semester).
4. Implementers will complete a brief online instructor survey after each SPORT PPW program presentation to monitor program implementation quality.

Variations and alternatives to this evaluation design are possible upon request.

Contact PPW for more information at: info@preventionpluswellness.com or call: (904) 472-5022.

Learn more about SPORT PPW:

NEW 2025 Programs The SPORT Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) programs are evidence-based interventions designed to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent substance use among youth. These programs encourage participants to adopt positive behaviors such as physical activity, healthy eating, adequate sle...

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https://preventionpluswellness.com/

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Our Story

Our Mission

Prevention Plus Wellness, LLC is an education small business whose mission is to provide:

1) Quick and easy to use evidence-based and evidence-informed substance use prevention programs that promote protective wellness lifestyles and positive identities for youth, young adults and adults in all settings.

2) Online and onsite training workshops for prevention and health professionals and youth leaders so they can implement, and train others to implement, Prevention Plus Wellness programs with maximum fidelity and effectiveness.

3) Share 10% of net proceeds from sales of our training and programs to charities that serve the basic needs of the most poor and vulnerable children throughout America and the world.

To date we've been successful in our mission by:

Providing effective Prevention Plus Wellness programs across all 50 states in the US and abroad,

Training thousands of prevention and health professionals to provide and train others in using PPW programs in online and onsite workshops, and

Donating tens of thousands of dollars to "A" rated charities serving the basic needs of disadvantaged youth and families.

Our Vision

To protect all children, youth and adults from substance abuse harm while also promoting physically active and healthy lifestyles and positive identities. This is accomplished by cueing desired future wellness images, linking substance use as barriers to wellness behaviors and positive identity, and enhancing self-regulation skills to set and monitor multiple wellness and self-improvement goals. We also provide for the basic needs of the most poor and vulnerable children in the US and the world.

Our Story

You’ve heard Plato’s quote that “Necessity is the mother of invention.” Well, that’s exactly how Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) was born.

After years of developing substance abuse prevention programs, I was faced with the challenge of providing a prevention program for youth attending school sports physical exams. This problem demanded the development of a practical prevention program that could be implemented within a very tight time frame, and yet was also salient and enjoyable in its targeting of how to achieve broader well-being and personal performance outcomes.

The solution was a single-session screening and brief intervention that integrated the prevention of substance use with the promotion of fitness and health habits by cuing naturally motivating positive images and using multiple behavior goal setting to improve self-regulation skills.

Today Prevention Plus Wellness continues to provide the only evidence-based screening and brief intervention substance use prevention programs and training in the country that promote wellness, positive self-identity and self-control for general and high-risk populations in a fun, user-friendly single-session format.

Please join us in our mission to protect and improve the whole health of youth and young adults across America and the world, through the use of powerful but practical substance use prevention programs and training designed to improve fitness, health, self-image and drug awareness, while providing for the basic needs of our most poor and vulnerable children.

Sign up today to start receiving notices of special events, discounts and news about evidence-based and evidence-informed substance use prevention with wellness programs and training for young people. Thank you!

Chudley Edward Werch, PhD, President & Founder

Prevention Plus Wellness, LLC

More Info:

Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) provides easy to access and quick online training workshops as well as onsite training at your setting for prevention and health professionals and youth leaders as program implementers and training of trainers in a single-day. We also offer convenient online training for program implementers and trainers.

The SPORT Prevention Plus Wellness program for youth and the InShape Prevention Plus Wellness program for college students and other young adults are evidence-based practices screening and brief interventions and are also listed on various evidence-based programs databases, including the Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP), Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development and other evidence-based registries.

We also offer several evidence-informed screening and brief interventions including: SPORT 2 Prevention Plus Wellness, Va**ng Prevention Plus Wellness, Ma*****na Prevention Plus Wellness, In God's Image, SPORT PPW-High Risk, InShape PPW-High Risk, SPORT 2 PPW-High Risk for high school adolescents, and Opioid Prevention Plus Wellness programs for high risk men, women and adolescents.

Call to learn more about Prevention Plus Wellness (PPW) programs, training, and materials:

(904) 472-5022

info@preventionpluswellness.com