About Us

”No man (person) is an island entire of itself; every man (person) is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”

— John Donne

Purpose

The State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup (SEOW), established in 2005, serves as a clearinghouse for substance use and mental health related data indicators. The SEOW was funded under the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Partnership for Success grant, focused on the prevention of substance use among 12 to 25 year olds. The program is supported and managed by Maine Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Maine CDC).

The SEOW has six primary objectives:

  1. Identify, organize, analyze and share key substance abuse prevention and related behavioral health indicators data;

  2. Create data-guided products that inform prevention planning/policies;

  3. Train communities in understanding, using and presenting data in an effective manner;

  4. Build state and local level monitoring and surveillance systems;

  5. Help secure funds and measure progress; and

  6. Provide an opportunity for networking and collaboration.

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Identify Data Sources and Data Gatekeepers

The SEOW Workgroup works together to identify key state-level stakeholders and data keepers across public health networks.

Current Data Sources
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Convene

Regular meetings of this workgroup provide a platform for stakeholders to network across departments and divisions to share resources.

SEOW News
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Align and Leverage

Stakeholders help to provide data and identify current substance use trends which are reported in a variety of ways via the Annual SEOW Profile, topical Fact Sheets, and Quick Reference Guide.

View Resources
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A Triangulation Approach

For effective prevention planning, we cannot rely on data from a single organization to assess the status of problems related to substance abuse or mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) disorders. In reality, data across multiple systems (health, criminal justice, education) yield a fuller understanding of the consequences and effects of limited prevention efforts. Every year the SEOW publishes a comprehensive statewide profile regarding substance use consumption, consequences, and contributing factors in Maine.

Download the SEOW Profile