The Coalition for a Tobacco-Free West Virginia and the West Virginia Youth Tobacco Prevention Campaign, a member of the Coalition, have implemented a public education campaign to educate communities about the severity of the tobacco use problem and to increase community participation in finding solutions to the problem. Key strategies of the campaign include development of educational materials, advanced media advocacy, town meetings, and expanding the base of support for the Coalition. Key messages for the campaign include: 1) Everybody pays the cost of tobacco use; 2) West Virginia leads the nation in many tobacco use categories; 3) funding a comprehensive tobacco prevention program based on CDC Best Practicies guideines will significantly reduce tobacco use rates. Key messages were framed and targeted to specific groups, i.e., church, business, community and youth. As a result, the Coalition has: 1) increased Coalition membership from 80 to 200; 2) increased the base of support to include non-public health partners; 3) increased media attention to the tobacco use problem and the need to address the problem at the policy level; 4) and empowered membership to educate their local communities by providing them with resources, technical assistance, and ongoing communication. Some key successes of the campaign have been partnering with the WV Council of Churches, representing 600,000 West Virginians statewide, to participate in tobacco prevention education, as well as with WV AARP, WV Education Association, the WV State Chamber of Commerce, and the WV Broadcasters Association.
Learning Objectives: l. Participants will be able to identify five key communications channels for communicating tobacco prevention information. 2. Participants will be able to construct an Action Plan to involve "non-traditional" partners in advocating for policy issues that reduce tobacco use. 3. Participants will be able to develop messages to attract specific community groups and media
Keywords: Tobacco Settlement, Media Advocacy
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.