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Health Evaluation

Evaluating Tobacco Control Strategies: Amplifying and Integrating the Voices of Underrepresented Populations

Stream: Health and Wellness

Thursday, October 24, 2024
10:15 AM - 11:15 AM PST
Location: F149-150
Abstract Information: The use of commercial (1) tobacco is the leading cause of disease, disability, and death in the U.S. (2) Some groups use tobacco at disproportionately higher rates, including racial and ethnic minority groups, people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or another gender or sexual minority group (LGBTQ+), people with behavioral health conditions, and people with lower socioeconomic status (3). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) strives to amplify the voices of historically underrepresented populations through data collection, and the evaluation planning of tobacco control policies and programs. CDC OSH incorporates diverse perspectives in evaluation design, using traditional surveillance, and mixed-methods approaches to understand stories that numbers alone can’t tell; providing an evaluator community of practice; and collaborating with evaluators working in state and territorial health departments and community organizations across the nation. This panel will provide four examples of how evaluation design and implementation can illuminate diverse and underrepresented perspectives. The first panelist will review findings from the 2023–2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS), a cross-sectional, nationally representative survey of U.S. middle and high school students. Weighted prevalence estimates of commercial menthol tobacco product use among youth by key sociodemographic variables will be presented. The panelist will discuss strategies used and challenges encountered in examining tobacco use among racial and ethnic minorities, youth who identify as LGBTQ+, and how national surveillance data can be used to inform program evaluation. The second panelist will discuss the design, implementation, and preliminary findings of an outcome evaluation of local menthol tobacco policies. This evaluation uses a mixed-methods approach using a web-based quantitative survey with focus group data to amplify the voices of LGBTQ+ and racial and ethnic minority groups who are more likely to experience tobacco related disparities. Panelists will discuss study design considerations for detecting statistical differences among population groups that are typically underrepresented. Panelists will review the challenges and lessons learned in tobacco control policy evaluation. The third panelist will present preliminary findings from an ongoing evaluation of the National Tobacco Control Program (NTCP). The NTCP provides funding to implement comprehensive, evidence-based tobacco control interventions in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. Panelists will highlight the mixed-methods approach to demonstrate how qualitative findings can amplify diverse perspectives and bring context to quantitative findings. The fourth panelist will present findings from an annual evaluation of CDC OSH’s community of practice, “The Evaluators’ Network.” This community of practice provides trainings, resources, and technical assistance to NCTP staff who work in surveillance and evaluation in state and jurisdictional health departments. This presentation will cover how annual evaluation feedback from individuals on the ground shapes and strengthens the community of practice to better assist NTCP staff in achieving programmatic goals, including identifying and working to eliminate tobacco-related health disparities. (1)“Commercial tobacco” means harmful products that are made and sold by tobacco companies. It does not include “traditional tobacco” used by Indigenous groups for religious or ceremonial purposes. (2)https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/factsheets/tobacco.htm#:~:text=Commercial*%20tobacco%20use%20is%20the,death%20in%20the%20United%20States (3)https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/health-equity/