Recovery Month: Toolkit, PSAs Help Planning Efforts
Communities across the Nation are already planning for the 18th annual National
Alcohol and Drug Addiction Recovery Month in September, which celebrates the commitment of people in recovery from
substance use disorders.
To support these efforts, SAMHSA recently released a 2007 planning toolkit and promotional public
service announcements (PSAs).
The Toolkit
With guidance from national partner organizations, SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse
Treatment (CSAT) developed the user-friendly toolkit to guide planners through the process of
coordinating, launching, and publicizing events.
Available in print and online at the Recovery Month Web site, the kit offers ideas for events,
sample materials, helpful templates to customize local celebrations, and a glossary of frequently
used terms.
The kit is divided into three sections:
Media Outreach includes samples of a media advisory, a news release, and PSAs that can be customized with local information for specific events.
Targeted Outreach offers general information about substance use disorders that can be distributed
to the public and the media. Audience-specific fact sheets—such as those for employers,
insurance providers, and policymakers—also are included.
Resources help community leaders reach out to planning partners. Materials include an outline
for building community coalitions, a list of potential partner organizations, and lists of state
contacts for information related to substance abuse.
Two new PSAs, “Celebrate” and “Cost,” are available to radio and television
stations nationwide on the Recovery Month Web site. Broadcasters are invited to request these
ads, which are recorded in English and Spanish and available as 15- and 30-second spots.
The “Celebrate” PSA emphasizes that recovery from substance abuse disorders is something
to be honored, not a hidden cause for shame. “Cost” begins on a somber note with
the speaker listing all the things lost to alcohol and drug addiction—job, home, and health,
among others—but ends with a hopeful message about recovery.
The 2007 Recovery Month theme, “Join the Voices for Recovery: Saving Lives, Saving Dollars,” aims
to raise awareness of the financial and human costs of substance use disorders.
Fact sheets in the toolkit provide statistics on the amount of money spent treating substance
abuse-related medical problems.
One fact sheet—“Employers: How Businesses Can Help Workers with Substance Use Disorders”—shows
employers how they can benefit by investing in treatment and recovery. Ideas include supporting
drug-free workplace initiatives and employee assistance programs and ensuring that health care
insurance plans cover substance abuse treatment. Another fact sheet on offering cost-effective
treatment is available for insurance providers.
Interspersed throughout the toolkit are personal testimonies from people in recovery that bring
into sharp focus how addiction negatively affects individuals and their families, not only financially
but on every level.
Recovery Month allows people of all ages who have battled substance abuse and achieved recovery
to encourage others to seek treatment. Annual activities also help people understand that investing
in treatment is essential for those who enter recovery, their families, and society as a whole.
For more information on the event, visit SAMHSA’s Web site at www.recoverymonth.gov.
To order a print copy of the Recovery Month toolkit, call SAMHSA’s National Clearinghouse
for Drug and Alcohol Information at 1 (800) 729-6686 (English), 1 (877) 767-8432 (Español),
or 1 (800) 487-4889 (TDD). The toolkit also is available online for free download at www.recoverymonth.gov/2007/
kit/default.aspx.
