Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #120929

Marian Huhman, PhD, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP)/ VERB, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2877 Brandywine Road, Williams Building, Fifth floor, Atlanta, GA 30341-3717, 7704886437, MHuhman@cdc.gov, Jennifer Duke, PhD, Director of Research, American Legacy Foundation, 2030 M Street, NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20036, and Terry Zobeck, ONDCP, National Youth Anti-Drug Campaign, 750 17th St NW, Washington DC, DC 20503.

Three national campaigns, VERB, Anti-drug, and truth all seek to have measurable effects on the health of our nation's youth. VERB™ It's what you do. encourages children aged 9-13 to be physically active everyday. The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign aims to educate and empower youth to reject illicit drugs. The truth® campaign works to prevent youth smoking by educating teens, allowing them to make informed choices about tobacco use. Though the audience and behaviors targeted by each campaign differs, each conducts evaluations designed to measure and attribute effects to the campaign's efforts. Drawing from experiences across these three campaigns, each panelist will present the research questions of their evaluation, the design chosen to answer these questions, and the strengths and limitations of the methodology. Panelists will discuss the campaign outcomes and describe how the approach to evaluation and the sources of data have evolved over the period of the campaign evaluation. Presenters will discuss the interpretation of the outcomes in the larger context of health communication evaluations.

Learning Objectives: