Learning Objectives: Describe 3-5 ways to make your workplan culturally appropriate for a community that has had little tobacco control.
Abstract: Imagine you lived under the Soviet System where smoking was the norm and have now immigrated to San Francisco for greater freedoms. You see a sign asking you to report neighbors to the state who aren’t complying with tobacco laws. A tobacco prevention “campaign” asks you to sign a “pledge” sheet. By using strategies and words reminiscent of the Soviet era these proven public health strategies could alienate this community. We'll explain how we reached this community, approached our workplan from a new angle and implemented a media campaign and educational workshops. The key points of what worked, what didn’t and our approaches will be illustrated by using our project as a model.
METHODS:
Because there had been no groundwork in this community, we needed to “re-interpret” a traditional California workplan to make it palatable to this community. We assessed the community and planned our strategies through key informants, focus groups, an Advisory Board, a literature review and hiring staff from the target population.
RESULTS:
We learned best approaches for this community, established connections, and based on this decided, instead of policy changes as a first step, to implement culturally and linguistically appropriate community awareness campaigns and educational workshops.
Discussion: Participants will gain knowledge about the unique perspective of this specific immigrant population and learn methods for approaching communities that have had limited tobacco awareness. Advocates working in ethnic communities or cessation will be able to use our program and lessons learned as a model for their work.
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