The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #69760

Gregory Bloss, MA, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 6000 Executive Boulevard - Willco Building, MSC 7003, Room 514, Bethesda, MD 20892-7003, (301) 443-3865, gbloss@willco.niaaa.nih.gov and James F. Mosher, JD, Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, 6062 Graham Hill Road, Suite B, Felton, CA 95018.

This session will introduce NIAAA’s new Alcohol Policy Information System (APIS) to the public health research community. The APIS is an NIAAA contract initiative designed to encourage and facilitate research on the effects and effectiveness of alcohol-related public policies by providing detailed, comparable, and authoritative information on a broad range of State and Federal alcohol-related policies. The overall goal of the session is to make the research community aware of this important new tool and its features, capabilities, and limitations. The session will feature presentations by individuals who have had key roles in the development of the APIS: 1. INTRODUCTION TO APIS: Gregory Bloss will describe the overall structure of the system and its main components and identify the Institute’s goals in developing the APIS (10 minutes); 2. THE APIS WEB SITE: A LIVE DEMONSTRATION. Rose Urban, M.S.W., J.D., will provide a live demonstration of the principal capabilities of the system (25 minutes); 3. PUTTING APIS TO WORK: A RESEARCHER/USER PERSPECTIVE. Alexander C. Wagenaar, Ph.D., will identify a range of policy-related research areas that will benefit from the availability of APIS policy information (20 minutes). 4. AN APIS CASE STUDY: POLICY APPROACHES TO PREVENTING AND TREATING FETAL ALCOHOL SYNDROME. Sue Thomas, Ph.D., and James F. Mosher, JD, will illustrate APIS capabilities as a health policy research tool with an in-depth look at the diverse State laws that address Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS). (20 minutes). 5. DISCUSSION. James F. Mosher, JD, discussion leader (15 minutes).

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to:
• Understand the rationale and purposes of the APIS system, identify key components of the APIS web site and articulate the main capabilities and limitations of the system;
• Navigate the APIS web site and use policy search tools to identify and retrieve data and supporting documentation; and
• Understand the potential uses of APIS in conducting alcohol policy research.

Keywords: Policy/Policy Development, Research

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.