We propose to meet Healthy People 2000 public education goals by forming a partnership between scientists at Washington University School of Medicine and faculty at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH), a University of Missouri research and policy center whose state-mandated mission includes community education. The collaborators will educate the general public, (a) correcting the misconception that drug abuse and alcoholism are character flaws rather than diseases, (b) discussing the genetic aspects of substance abuse, (c) stressing the importance of treatment for drug abuse, (d) identifying risk factors for drug abuse and related complications, such as AIDS, (e) discussing the value of animal models for substance abuse research. A team of Washington University substance abuse researchers will be responsible for the project's scientific content. The core of our educational efforts will be a creative multimedia program that utilizes touch-screen, state-of-the-art computer technology to educate the public in an interesting, interactive, and engaging manner. It will include brief interviews in which research scientists explain their work, vignettes with patients whose lives have been saved or improved because of drug abuse research involving animals, first-hand accounts of addiction and its effects, descriptions of the effects of drugs on the brain, and illustrations of the application of scientific methods to addiction research. We will place the multimedia kiosks at five critical sites: the emergency room of our city's public hospital, two community health/WIC centers, a branch of the St. Louis public library, and a university campus serving large numbers of African-American students. An advisory group of five or more consultants will meet on a regular basis during the development of our materials to ensure that our educational messages are varied, forceful, culturally appropriate, and engaging. An independent group of experts on public opinion will evaluate the overall effectiveness of our educational efforts. If our program is demonstrably effective in increasing knowledge and influencing public attitudes about drug abuse research, we will work with NIDA to ensure that programs we develop are widely available for use in other libraries, medical facilities, and college campuses.
