The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #66817

John F P Bridges, Ph D, Vallerie H Propper, and Scott F Grey, MS. Health Services Research, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Av., Cleveland, OH 44106-4945, 216-368-6962, jfb12@cwru.edu

Tobacco has been labeled as the leading cause of preventable death and plays a significant role in the leading causes of actual death. Over the last four decades smoking rates participation rates have dropped from 42% to 23%. Healthy People 2010 list tobacco as one of the 28 leading health indicators, and thus is considered one of the top health priorities for the country. One of the problems associated with the development and evaluation of public health programs such as anti-tobacco programs, is the inability to obtain and develop a strong evidence base. The problem lies with the inability to run large randomized control trials. Potentially this leads to a bias favoring medical interventions, rather than traditional public health, interventions. The evidence, however, does not need to be empirical; theory can act as a proxy to guide the design and implementation of tobacco control policies. This paper overviews a number of theoretical foundations that can be beneficial in the planning of public health programs aimed at preventing tobacco initiation or encouraging cessation. These include Demand Theory, Rational Addiction, Portfolio Theory, Ethics and the Transtheoretical model. Each of these theories is reviewed, with a specific implication for tobacco control policies. Our study demonstrates the benefits of taking a theoretical approach and demonstrates that different conclusions that one draws for these theories are due to the different questions that they are addressing.

Learning Objectives:

• Participants in this session will become more familiar with the various theoretic foundations for which one can design and evaluate various tobacco control policies. Participant will learn the important contribution that theory can play in public health more generally.

Keywords: Theory, Tobacco Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
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.