Seitz de Martinez, Barbara J., Ph.D., M.L.S., C.P.P.

Deputy Director
Project Director, GIS in Prevention
Project Director, Hispanic Latino Projects
Head Librarian
RADAR Network Coordinator

Expertise in cultural studies, Spanish language, Geographic Information Systems and web design.

1. Information relevant to my work

    Library for Prevention

Dr. Seitz de Martinez serves as Head Librarian. The primary objective of the IPRC Library is to advance the IPRC’s mission to strengthen prevention efforts through education, resources and research. The IPRC library is a collection of materials on the prevention and treatment of substance abuse and problem gambling and related topics. The library collection aims to provide support for the Strategic Prevention Framework approach to prevention, which encourages the use of evidence-based prevention programs, practices and policies that match appropriate prevention strategies to address the risk factors and intervening variables that contribute to substance abuse and problem gambling behaviors and consequences.
The IPRC collection includes books, monographs, reports, curricula (elementary, middle school, high school, and college), activity kits, VHS, CD, DVD, serials, brochures, pamphlets and journal articles. The library’s reference and clearinghouse services are available to all residents of Indiana.

    RADAR Network Clearinghouse of Prevention Materials

Dr. Seitz de Martinez is the CSAP RADAR Network Coordinator for the state of Indiana and a member of the RADAR Network National Steering Committee. The mission of the RADAR Network is to strengthen communication, prevention, and treatment activities among a broad range of organizations to address problems related to substance abuse.
As a RADAR Network Center, the IPRC maintains a clearinghouse of mainly print materials from the National Clearinghouse for Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drug Information (NCADI), the Indiana Prevention Resource Center, and other sources. These materials are available free to Indiana residents. Clearinghouse materials include: books, monographs, fact sheets, brochures, booklets, CDs and posters.

    Data for Prevention

Dr. Seitz is the project director for the IPRC’s data service called PREV-STAT. In recent years increasing attention has been focused on the benefits of using data to inform prevention processes, including advancement of community readiness, e.g., to combat tolerance of substance use and denial, for community assessment and for evaluation, for monitoring and for sustainability (acquisition of future grants).
The PREV-STAT Service produces multiple data resources to support prevention. Data is best matched to the level of the prevention project, program or jurisdiction. The IPRC has the capacity to provide an abundance of relevant data at many geographic levels such as zip code, census tract, block group, school district, and neighborhood or other small geographic area. In order to make meaningful data available to the widest Indiana audience, data resources are made available on the IPRC website at the county level.
Web-based GIS services include the GIS in Prevention products and the County Level Epidemiological Indicators (CLEI). The GIS in Prevention, County Profiles include full profiles, now in Series 4, and their associated County Profile Fact Sheets, as well as an online search tool where data on a specific topic can be located for any county or group of counties. The County Level Epidemiological Indicators (CLEI) presents such indicators as substance abuse-related school suspension and expulsion, mortality, and treatment data can be retrieved by such criteria as primary and secondary drug of abuse, gender, age, race, and county of residence. Additional GIS services include custom reports, for particular target populations and geographies and presentations and trainings on the use of GIS in prevention.

    Cultural Competency in Prevention

Dr. Seitz de Martinez holds a PhD from the Department of Communication and Culture. Along with ethics and integrity, cultural competency is critical to all of our interactions. Culture can be defined as the sum total of life patterns that are passed from generation to generation within a group or community, including institutions, language, religious ideals, artistic expression, and patterns of social and interpersonal relationships. Ethnicity refers to the concept of people sharing a common identity, common ideals, aspirations and origin, i.e., a sense of continuity over time, and also the manner in which people express their attachment to the group (Straussner, Shulamith Lala Ashenberg, ed., Ethnocultural Factors in Substance Abuse Treatment. New York: Guilford Press, 2003). Race is defined on the basis of physical criteria and is often socially defined. (Taylor in Xueqin Ma and Henderson, Ethnicity and SA: Prevention and Intervention, 2002) Members of a single ethnic group can be of many different or mixed races. The term “deep culture” has been used to refer to thoughts, ideas, concepts and understandings that are associated with a culture group (for example, ideas about child-rearing, gender roles, how to express respect).
Prevention professionals, along with health care professionals in general, are concerned about the many barriers that obstruct access to services. Examples of some barriers to access include racial discrimination, immigration status, and socioeconomic status. Cultural competency refers to the ability to function effectively in a variety of cultural contexts. It requires an understanding of your own ethnocultural background and values and also basic knowledge about the cultures of our customers or clients. It includes such things as being committed to working with diverse clients, and the ability to adapt your practices and skills so that they are appropriate to your clients’ cultural backgrounds. It calls for flexibility and making the necessary effort to reach out to appropriate cultural resources.
Dr. Seitz de Martinez developed an online portal on alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention for the Hispanic/Latino community (comprised of new immigrants and long-time residents) that offers in multiple languages a library of internet resources.

2. Areas of expertise

• Library Science
• Use of Data and Geographic Information Systems in Prevention
• Culture and Communication
• Latin American Culture
• Spanish language fluency

3. Recent activities

    Presentations/Workshops:

• Indiana Association of Prevention Professionals CPP Training, Indianapolis
• Regional Meetings for the DOE/IPRC Model Program Project (SPICE)
• State and Regional Meetings of the Strategic Prevention Framework SIG

    Participation:

• Member, DMHA Advisory Council and Prevention Subcommittee
• Member, State Epidemiological Outcomes Workgroup
• Member, Cultural Competency Committee of SPF SIG
• Board member, Latino Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
• Regional Meetings for the DOE/IPRC Model Program Project (SPICE)
• State and Regional Meetings of the Strategic Prevention Framework SIG
• Member, Meth Free Indiana Coalition

    Certification:

• Certified Facilitator, CSAP Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist Training