Market potential exists for a low-cost survey and software system to evaluate substance abuse among 8th-12th graders. Many school districts survey students periodically to examine impacts of drug prevention/education programs and to guide future programming. School administrators indicate problems with these surveys including high cost, long delay in obtaining results, and difficulty in understanding and applying findings. To overcome these barriers, Creative Action, Inc. plans to develop and market the Drug Education/Use Survey and Evaluation (DE-USE) System R, which includes survey forms, software and a technical manual for a school to self-administer a survey. In Phase II research, the survey and software will be further revised through improvements in data gathering, analyses, and reporting. Also, manufacturing bulk materials including test books with embedded answer sheets will be explored and developed. Manufacturing capabilities will be explored and developed to create a working prototype for extended use and assessment in subsequent product evaluation research. Finally, product functions, features and benefits will be evaluated by a nationally representative sample of school districts. Research will result in the final product design that most meets consumers needs and manufacturing specifications and requirement for Phase III commercialization.
CREATIVE ACTION, INC. conducted a pilot survey and found 30 percent of school administrators were very interested and an additional 47 percent were interested in a product with the features proposed for the DE-USE System R. If 30 percent of school districts, private and Catholic schools were to purchase this product at 500.00 dollars this would represent an initial gross income of approximately 2.3 million dollars. Survey materials, software updates, and additional modules for subjects such as sexuality and HIV-risk would also be sources of additional revenue. These revenue sources will be further explored in Phase II.
