Strategies Implemented by 20 Local Tobacco Control Agencies to Promote Smoke-Free Recreation Areas, California, 2004-2007 || Preventing Chronic Disease: September 2011: 10_0250

ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Strategies Implemented by 20 Local Tobacco Control Agencies to Promote Smoke-Free Recreation Areas, California, 2004-2007
Travis D. Satterlund, PhD, JD; Diana Cassady, DrPH; Jeanette Treiber, PhD; Cathy Lemp

Suggested citation for this article: Satterlund TD, Cassady D, Treiber J, Lemp C. Strategies implemented by 20 local tobacco control agencies to promote smoke-free recreation areas, California, 2004-2007. Prev Chronic Dis 2001;8(6):A111. http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2011/sep/10_0250.htm. Accessed [date].

PEER REVIEWED
Abstract

Introduction
Since 2000, local jurisdictions in California have enacted hundreds of policies and ordinances in an effort to protect their citizens from the harmful effects of secondhand smoke. We evaluated strategies used by state-funded local tobacco control programs to enact local smoke-free policies involving outdoor recreational spaces.

Methods
The Tobacco Control Evaluation Center analyzed 23 final evaluation reports that discussed adopting local smoke-free policies in outdoor recreational facilities in California. These reports were submitted for the 2004 through 2007 funding period by local tobacco control organizations to the California Department of Public Health, Tobacco Control Program. We used a comparative technique whereby we coded passages and compared them by locale and case, focusing on strategies that led to the enactment of smoke-free policies.

Results
Our analysis found the following 6 strategies to be the most effective: 1) having a “champion” who helps to carry an objective forward, 2) tapping into a pool of potential youth volunteers, 3) collecting and using local data as a persuasive tool, 4) educating the community in smoke-free policy efforts, 5) working strategically in the local political climate, and 6) framing the policy appropriately.

Conclusion
These strategies proved effective regardless of whether policies were voluntary, administrative, or legislative. Successful policy enactment required a strong foundation of agency funding and an experienced and committed staff. These results should be relevant to other tobacco control organizations that are attempting to secure local smoke-free policy.

Author Information


Corresponding Author: Travis D. Satterlund, PhD, JD, Center for Evaluation and Research, University of California, Davis, 1616 DaVinci Ct, Davis, CA 95618. Telephone: 530-754-8929. E-mail: tdsatter@ucdavis.edu.

Author Affiliations: Diana Cassady, Jeanette Treiber, Cathy Lemp, Center for Evaluation and Research, University of California, Davis, Davis, California.

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Preventing Chronic Disease: September 2011: 10_0250