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Salem, which is now known as Beth Israel
Lahey Health Behavioral Services. Her
work at the center was funded under the
Massachusetts tobacco-control program.
“My role really was to help communities
form local partnerships, and to look at how
to shape local health policies to reduce
smoking,” said Sallade. “I learned a lot in that
role, both in terms of how public funding and
mass media and policy can really make an
impact on the health of the public.”
The Massachusetts tobacco-control
program was one of the most successful
public-health campaigns that really
did reduce smoking rates, Sallade said.
She worked with local boards of health
encouraging them to support tobacco policies
to protect the health of the public.
“It was really my first experience in
understanding how many different facets of
a community can really make an impact on
public health,” said Sallade.
She worked with young people to show
them how they can talk to their boards of
health and advocate to make restaurants
smoke-free. Sallade believes that local
communities can absolutely use their voice in
making the change.
“And now, you know, years later we see a
lot of those repeat strategies with flavoredtobacco
products,” said Sallade.
The industry came up with a different
product, but the strategy to protect the health
of the public is the same.
“It really depends on local communities
having a voice in making that change,” said
Sallade.
Sallade's career saw her work for the
Reading Coalition for Prevention and
Support, Healthy Waltham and Danvers
Cares, which are all examples of community
partnerships. She said that all of these
organizations have evolved over the years.
They have been reshaped by different people,
different funding sources, sometimes different
topics, but they still exist as a local group of
community people that have expertise and
want to make changes to impact health in
their community.
“My role is really sort of a convener and
a guide to leverage the skills that exist within
a community to shape change. Change is a
word we often use,” said Sallade.
She joined AHL in 2018.
Sallade’s approach to substance-use
prevention is focused on helping young
people make healthy decisions.
“If young people delay their first use,
they’re less likely to experience any issues
with addiction,” Sallade said. “Any use before
age 25 is not healthy for a growing brain.”
And it is not always directly about drug
education. Sallade said that prevention is
very multifaceted. To be resilient and healthy,
youths need to have strong connections with
adults, opportunities to engage and give back
to the community, and ability to use their
voices in decisions for things that impact them.
“It’s really about how we build supports in
the community for young people,” she said.
Sallade thinks that the real strength of
Lynnfield as a community is that the town
already has a lot of good programs and
services for youth. AHL has also started a
youth-leadership program, coordinated by
Julie Greene, and formed a youth council
that will plan and implement prevention
strategies among adults through civic
engagement, education, media campaigns,
and volunteerism.
The council has 10 paid positions for
Lynnfield youths, and about 35 high-school
students in total meet twice a month. There
is also a youth group for Lynnfield Middle
School students.
One of the examples of how youth can
promote and model good decision-making
for their peers was the “Above the Influence”
campaign with a subtitle “21 reasons to
stay above the influence.” Lynnfield high
schoolers created a video with
reasons they would choose not to use
substances.
As part of that campaign, AHL
invited businesses that are licensed to
sell or serve alcohol to pledge not to
sell alcohol to underage kids, Sallade
said. All such businesses chose to get
involved, and the coalition thanked
them for not selling to minors with a
certificate.
“It really does take a village.
Everybody plays a different role in
supporting youth in the community
in a different role in substance-use
prevention,” said Sallade, including
community residents, town employees
and businesses.
At the same time, part of Sallade’s
approach when working in a new
community is to do an assessment
of current conditions and needs of
the community and to find gaps. In
Lynnfield, such a gap was a mentalhealth
referral and resource line. AHL
contracted William James College to
provide Lynnfield residents with access
to its Interface help line.
Interface is staffed by clinical
professionals who can help community
members access various outpatient
resources, including mental-health
counseling.
“This is one-stop shopping,”
Sallade said. “You can make a phone call,
provide information and they help match
your insurance and your availability and your
need with someone who's able to provide
counseling.”
Interface services are paid by the
town through the two federal grants
that AHL has received. One grant, A
Drug Free Communities Grant, comes
from the Substance Use Mental Health
Services Administration. The other one is
a Partnerships for Success Grant from the
Centers for Disease Control.
AHL holds public meetings once a
month that bring various people from the
community with different expertise together.
“That’s what coalition, that’s what
partnership work is,” said Sallade. “We
have treatment agencies, we have the faith
community, we have the YMCA, we have so
many different experts at the table to work
on this issue together. That’s a big piece of
coalition work and that’s new for Lynnfield.”
Sallade said that the town has been very
supportive.
“And we really would not be here without
the leadership of Phil Crawford, who
founded the organization,” she added.
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