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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Anna T. Levy, MS, Office of Women's Health, Office of Science Planning and Assessment, National Cancer Institute, 6116 Executive Blvd., Suite 205, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-435-3860, levya@mail.nih.gov, Deborah L. McLellan, MHS, Center for Community-Based Research, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, 44 Binney Street, Smith 2, Boston, MA 02115, Pebbles Fagan, PhD, MPH, Tobacco Control Research Branch, BRP, DCCPS, National Cancer Institute, 6130 Executive Blvd, EPN 4042, MSC 7337, Bethesda, MD 20892, Wanda K. Jones, Dr PH, Office on Women's Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 200 Independence Ave, SW, Rm 712E, Washington, DC 20201, and Nancy J. Kaufman, RN, MS, Aurora Health Care, 3000 West Montana Street, Milwaukee, WI 53215.

This session will review priority recommendations for policy research to address and eliminate disparities in smoking and ETS exposure defined by gender and SES.

The report of the NCI-sponsored working group in 2004, Women, Tobacco, and Cancer: An Agenda for the 21st Century and deliberations of the 2005 meeting, “Tobacco Control Policies: Do They Make a Difference for Low SES Women and Girls?” include recommendations for policy-related research to fill major knowledge gaps on gender differences in attitudes, behavior, and the impact of tobacco policies. Current data and knowledge of the effects of variables related to SES, sociodemographics, and policy on exposures, uptake, smoking intensity, and quitting provide a basis for developing programs and policies. Improved reporting of tobacco-related disparities through enhanced data sets, methodologies, and measures is key to understanding the lives and social context of subpopulations of low SES women and how tobacco control and other policies affect their tobacco use. Further research is needed to explore the relationships between tobacco use and smoke-free home and work environments, gender specific power dynamics, tobacco industry targeting, and potentially discriminatory policies. Understanding how policies alter social norms and behaviors, and the best strategies for collaborating with policy makers will help to raise awareness, reinforce the positive effects of tobacco policies on the health of all women and girls, and facilitate implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention for Tobacco Control for gender-specific tobacco strategies.

Learning Objectives:

• 1.Identify gap areas of research that need to be addressed in order to develop and implement effective tobacco policies for low SES women and girls.
• 2.Identify research priorities to define the highest risk subpopulations of women and the factors that affect their tobacco use.
• 3.Identify research needs to improve our understanding of the effects of tobacco-related policies for low SES populations of women and girls.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation