Learning Objectives: Describe the approach used in the state of Minnesota to evaluate the effectiveness of youth leadership activities related tobacco control and describe preliminary results of this evaluation.
Abstract: The Minnesota Youth Tobacco Prevention Initiative (MYTPI) was established in 2000 from a portion of the Minnesota Tobacco Settlement to reduce the desirability and accessibility of tobacco use by young people. The MYTPI provided 50 grants to public health agencies and nonprofit organizations serving diverse populations across the state to advance these goals at the local level. Mindful of research on youth substance use prevention that emphasizes the importance of empowering youth to become educators, advocates and leaders of prevention efforts, many grantees organized youth into groups to design and carry out local tobacco prevention and control activities. A statewide evaluation was conducted by the Program Evaluation Assistance Center (PEAC) at the University of Minnesota to assess how effective these efforts were, both in terms of mobilizing youth around the issue of tobacco prevention and changing the social climate of smoking at the local level. The evaluation study involved two surveys. The first survey was sent to approximately 900 youth from more than 75 groups supported by grantees. Survey results will provide information on: the extent to which youth personally “took on” the issue of tobacco control, the degree to which youth felt empowered to make a difference in smoking among their peers, and the types of activities that were more effective at mobilizing and empowering youth. A second survey was sent to the adult facilitators of youth groups and will provide additional insights on the changes that occurred in schools and communities as a result of youth group activities.
Back to Posters
Back to Tobacco Use Prevention Among Youth
Back to The 2002 National Conference on Tobacco or Health