29 - TRAPS : Tobacco Reporting and Progress System

Abstract Information: Tobacco surveillance and evaluation records are critical to effective programming, education, and strategic planning. The Tobacco Reporting and Progress System (TRAPS), a product of Mississippi State University's Social Science Research Center, is an innovative data portal used throughout the state of Mississippi for all tobacco-related programs to collect valid data, an essential component for better decision-making. Because TRAPS uses cloud-based architecture, grantees, program monitors, program officers, and executive directors, can access the data portal from any location to add and/or review data related to programmatic activities (e.g., the scope of work activities, itineraries, membership records, ordinance documents, etc.) and access shared resource documents, a process simplified using TRAPS. Program evaluators have instantaneous access to all of the information maintained in TRAPS and can use these data to measure program outcomes at the state, region, and county levels. TRAPS can accommodate different types of programs that differ based on levels of regional granularity and program users. The TRAPS portal has multi-level security accessibility as well as a robust tracking interface for each of the tobacco programs to generate reports, as well as interactive graphs that can be queried by user ID, quarterly, yearly, or longitudinal (2014-current). TRAPS also has a Google Map component enabling queries of program-specific activities with layered demographic data by state and county. The TRAPS data portal allows Mississippi's Office of Tobacco Control to monitor and provide short-term, intermediate, and long-term intervention outcomes to influence program and policy direction, ensure accountability, and demonstrate effectiveness.