Problem/Objective: Mothers who smoke pose a risk to themselves and their children. Not only do children suffer from the effects of secondhand smoke, research shows that children who live with a mother who smokes are significantly more likely to smoke than those who live with a non smoking mother. Among some groups such as the Medicaid population, the smoking rates are especially high (over 35%). A media campaign was developed to reach low income women in the child bearing years.

Methods: Focus groups revealed that “real” women who had successfully quit smoking were the most likely to inspire our target audience to attempt to quit. The Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP) conducted a “What's Your Story?” recruitment campaign and selected three finalists from those who responded. We then produced radio ads using the voices of the three finalists, and aired them in six key markets.

Results: We conducted two random digit dialed telephone surveys (>3,000 responses per survey) – one before the campaign and one after. The surveys measured ad recall and awareness of Massachusetts new Medicaid smoking cessation benefit. By posing a false choice to respondents, it was determined that there was significant recall of an essential element of the campaign by the target population. In addition, awareness of the Massachusetts new Medicaid smoking cessation benefit increased significantly among Medicaid subscribers.

Conclusions: Despite a limited budget, the "What's Your Story" was memorable to consumers. The use of the false choice in the survey design and analysis was a key component in evaluating the campaign.