Using maps in advocacy and legislature education efforts

Background: The Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco (PACT) and the American Lung Association of the Mid-Atlantic (ALA-MA) provide advocacy workshops for over 100 PA Tobacco Prevention and Control Program contractors/providers each year. The workshops provide an opportunity to build advocacy skills and coordinate key messages that will be delivered across the state. In 2012, advocacy efforts will focus on educating legislators about the importance of implementing comprehensive smoke-free legislation, since the current Clean Indoor Air Act allows for multiple exemptions. PACT and ALA-MA worked with Public Health Management Corporation's Research and Evaluation Group to provide workshop attendees with district level maps depicting location/density of exempt businesses for use as communication tools during advocacy visits with legislators. This presentation will describe how district level maps were created using GIS tools and how maps facilitated discussion about clean indoor air policy. Key Points: 1) Maps provide a consistent way to meet the demand by legislators for district level information. 2) Maps are effective visual aids in coordinated advocacy efforts, but because they require interpretation, should be used with messaging. 3) Geographic boundaries can be updated depending on the political climate to depict relevant areas (e.g., after redistricting, before or after election cycles). Discussion: Maps are a unique communication tool that can be effectively used in advocacy and legislator education efforts. Feedback from local advocates about using district level maps will inform the development of future mapping initiatives to support policy-related work.