Planning for alcohol-problem prevention through complex systems modeling: results from SimCom.

This article describes a computer-based model of alcohol use and misuse intervention called SimCom. This generic model, based on the best available scientific knowledge, incorporates eight interaction subsystems. When loaded with actual data from a locality, the model has the ability to "act like" this location and can be used to forecast the future effects of alternative prevention strategies. The article describes benchmark testing of a model for the state of California, including projected prevention strategies for that state.