Missouri's Tobacco Control Exchange

Stay Above the Line by Jason Vander Weele

Tobacco policy change is an uphill movement.  Some actually call it a fight.  Over the past two years, I’ve learned why that is the case.  Here are “the sides”:

Throughout much of the last half of the 1900s, the Tobacco Industry was highly influential in the mainstream media, Congress, and small communities.  By taking a gander at the Tobacco Industry archives (a court order forced them to release all of their internal documents to the public) one can easily see that the Tobacco Industry had but two goals:  increase revenue and maintain status quo.

Decades of targeting these goals have had a ripple effect.  First, to this day, arguments the Tobacco Industry made to continue the status quo for their own profit are STILL made as arguments against tobacco policy change.  While it used to be that “Smokers’ Rights” groups were operated on the back-end by Tobacco Industry employees, they are now operated by addicted individuals who refuse to take off their blindfolds.

Second, the Tobacco Industry was very good at creating the illusion for Americans that their product was part of the American lifestyle while minimizing the health dangers associated with it.  And, because of that, a few bloggers and naysayers who refuse to accept the truth as reality continually tout the known health dangers as minimal, while demanding that “America stay free.”  The Corporate Tobacco Industry has successfully defined freedom for us, America.  Had this been any industry not relating to internal, personal, intentional ingestion of a harmful substance, such as the Coal Industry, Nuclear Waste Industry, or Industrial Wood Glue Manufacturing Industry there would be no “freedom outcry” whatsoever.  But, because this relates to harming oneself (and, yes, those around them) it then transforms into some “nanny state” argument.  Each of the industries listed above operates under heavy regulation.  Why shouldn’t tobacco be included?

Of course, the naysayers believe that the Public Health Industry is an evil conspiracy.  Their theory is that if you create more regulations, then more people to quit smoking and more quit-smoking drugs will be sold.  It is a great theory, that is, if you didn’t have the opposite end of the spectrum to deal with:  the cost of keeping people alive who would otherwise die of tobacco-related illness.  In part, the naysayers are correct, the health industry is trying to save money, now and in the future, by getting people to stop smoking and therefore not acquire the illnesses that tobacco causes, which result in increased expenses for the health industry.  However, the naysayers would never admit this fact, as it would cause them to have to backtrack on one of their main arguments.

Think about it.  One quit smoking drug (which I won’t name for fear of being accused of being their friend, which I am not) costs about $125 for 6 weeks.  Let’s assume someone decides to quit using that drug.  It is recommended for 12 weeks, so that is $250.  That is equal to roughly six cartons of cigarettes.  Where is the company making money?  If that same individual keeps smoking, far more than $250 is spent on cigarettes over a lifetime, PLUS their medical expenses down the road add up to much more than $250 (and most likely our tax money is supporting that).  If the naysayers were correct, then the Public Health Industry would be promoting tobacco!  (Just to be completely clear, I did quit smoking using that drug I referred to above, and it made me sick as a dog, my stomach hurt, I had nightmares, and it was awful.  But, given all that, it did work for me.)

All of this is important to know as you start working with your local coalition.  There is quite a history to this issue.  It will be difficult, at times, to “stay above the line”, meaning, to keep a positive attitude and refrain from doing something foolish.  Naysayers will continue to promote their irrelevant arguments, straw men, and inaccurate statements.  You will be personally attacked on blogs and websites.  The media will pretend to be your friend, while they turn their heads to truth and sensationalize the issue.

Eventually the general public will see past all the baloney that was once touted by the Tobacco Industry, and they will stand behind you.  But, until you get to that point, it is an uphill climb.

The best advice I have:  Don’t take off the gloves.  Keep it positive.  You will prevail.

#     #     #

Jason Vander Weele currently works for BJC HealthCare School Outreach and Youth Development department in St. Louis, MO.  Jason is trained in Developing and Managing Volunteers by the Emergency Management Institute and has also been involved in numerous trainings with the Missouri Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster and the Disaster Recovery Partnership. He has been an active member of the Smoke-Free St. Louis City Coalition where he focuses on building key relationships and promoting grassroots volunteerism.  He served as a Fellow with AmeriCorps St. Louis’ Emergency Response Team, where he managed disaster-relief volunteer operations and coordinated the efforts of multiple non-governmental agencies.  His volunteer management expertise came from time spent working alongside numerous agencies after Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, Katrina and Rita in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.  He also coordinated AmeriCorps teams across Missouri during numerous ice, heat, and tornado emergencies. 

In his free time, Jason enjoys playing billiards, learning about the newest technologies, and studying philosophy.  He can be contacted by email at jasonvanderweele@bjc.org. Find out about clean air efforts in St. Louis at  http://www.smokefreestl.org/

Get the Scoop from Fellow Cessation and Prevention Specialists

Want advice on how to create and implement your own cessation program? Need to know how to approach media for stories? Check out these guest columns from contributors who work in cessation and prevention throughout the Show-Me State.

How to Create a High School Smoking Cessation Program by Linda Cooperstock

Communication Key to Statewide Clean Air Efforts by Jason Vander Weele

Volunteering: Managing the Momentum in Missouri by Jason Vander Weele

Read more in our Guest Blog section.

Want to guest blog for Missouri's Tobacco Control Exchange? E-mail Angela Wilson at motobaccocontrol AT gmail DOT com for details!

How To Start A Tobacco-Free Campus Campaign by Ty Patterson

After leading my institution, Ozarks Technical Community College, and helping many others through the process of becoming tobacco-free I have learned a lot. My journey down tobacco road - if you’ll excuse the pun - began in 1997.

 Norman Myers, then President of OTC, asked me to “look into how we can get cigarettes off the campus.” My first instinct was to find an institution that had done so in order to use as much of their experience as possible. Trouble! Though several proclaimed to be tobacco or smoke free upon further review I couldn’t find a single community college, college or university that had completely rid its campus of cigarettes. Furthermore, I learned nobody felt good about their policy. It seemed no one could enforce either perimeter restrictions or designated use areas. 

Just twelve years later there are now over 150 higher education institutions in the US that are 100% tobacco(or smoke)-free. And more are in the process of considering such a policy. Why have so many institutions rid their campuses of tobacco use? There are many reasons. A couple of the more widely used are: eliminate exposure to second hand smoke (SHS); and rid campus of unsightly tobacco refuse.

There are other reasons including the desire to make the institution sustainable; comply with tobacco-free legislation impacting medical facilities existing on portions of campuses; assure access by removing obstacles for those with disabilities adversely impacted by exposure to SHS; prepare students to enter or advance in increasingly tobacco-free work environments; save the institution health care costs for employees; and, eliminate policies that give tacit approval for those under age to use tobacco on campus.

So, let’s say you are interested in how to start a tobacco-free campus campaign. Here are my thoughts:

 First you must understand the current policy and whether the policy is being followed (some prefer “enforced”). Most institutions have a policy which restricts tobacco use or smoking to a perimeter (X feet from building entrances/exits) or a designated area or both. The policy will stipulate whether smoking or tobacco use is the object. Many policies were established before smokeless tobacco use was in vogue. Check the signage on campus. Find out if the policy is working. All you need do is check building entrances/exits on rainy days. Observe whether tobacco litter is disposed of in receptacles. Are receptacles available in appropriate places. We’ve all been on campuses where the signs say no smoking within 25 feet (or some such distance) but tobacco urns are placed right outside the building and well within the number of feet specified on the signs. Prepare a list of the ways the policy is not working.

See if you can locate a similar type/size institution(s) that has(have) adopted a policy that addresses the problems you’ve identified. Get in touch with the individual that is responsible for enforcement of the policy. If that person can’t tell you how the policy was established talk to the chief student affairs officer, usually a dean or vice president level staff member. When you do locate someone who can answer the how did you do it question, you have an ally. HINT: You will find, contrary to most thinking, IT IS EASIER TO ENFORCE A 100% TOBACCO-FREE CAMPUS POLICY than designated use areas and/or perimeter restrictions! 

The next step is to find an institutional champion for the policy change. This can be difficult. Administrators are loathe to get involved with policy initiatives that are controversial or counter intuitive. Unfortunately to most administrators I have encountered this will be the response you get.

Often, the first suggestion you hear is to get a student group to work on the idea. This may be an intentional effort to kill the initiative or it may be simply naïve. Either way, as important as student input is on this policy initiative starting there is a mistake in my opinion. That is because even non smoking students are reluctant to support a tobacco-free policy which their friends who smoke would find objectionable.

A lot of critical thinking needs to occur before asking students for support. A Dean, or Vice President of Student Services is a good place to start, but the Director of HR, Dean of Allied Health, or Director of The Fitness Center are other possibilities. Even the Dean or VP of Instruction is a possibility. I recommend preparing a written proposal that the institution become 100% tobacco (or smoke)-free. The proposal should emphasize why the institution should adopt the policy. The issues of how this could be accomplished need to involve significant input from the “champion.”  The process continues until you find a person of importance in the organize who agrees to “champion” the idea. Don’t give up until you find yours.

When the champion is identified they will help further develop the proposal to include the process of obtaining support from the president/chancellor and key groups on campus. The groups include student government, faculty senate, classified staff association, HR, and in particular the Allied Health department.

This process involves thoroughly explaining why the policy is necessary. Either before or at the time you are meeting with groups the champion should meet with the president or chancellor to explain why the campus should be tobacco-free and to summarize activity in support of this goal to date. In some institutions it will be necessary to have the support of the president/chancellor.

But in every case the effort to make the campus tobacco-free must NOT BE OPPOSED by the president/chancellor! Your champion will understand best how to avoid opposition from the institution’s leader.

Once institutional support is gained the process of implementation can proceed. The next step is to identify a committee or task force whose job will be to plan the successful implementation. The timeline should be at least one semester and preferably two semesters between the formation of the group and the date of the policy going into effect.

The implementation committee should consist of key institutional players such as Admissions, Public Relations, HR, Student Affairs, Faculty, Classified Staff as well as representatives from the community or surrounding communities. The latter would include former state office holders, members of the medical community, K-12 educators; owners/managers of businesses which have adopted tobacco-free policies; and representatives of the American Heart Association, American Cancer Society and American Lung Association.

This group will prepare a detailed plan for implementation including Communication (signage, web page, focus groups, student and employee orientation, admission process, new media, alumni, etc.); Budget; Cessation; Enforcement; Assessing impact of policy on employee and student tobacco use; and Evaluation of implementation process. I recommend a resource area be located where people can avail themselves of literature about tobacco use, cessation and the history of the process to make the campus tobacco-free. 

These steps are not inviolate. Each institution is unique. But if you follow the approach I have outlined I believe you will have a good chance to succeed in making your campus tobacco-free. And, if this all seems too much I invite you to come to The 6th Annual “Making Your Campus Tobacco-Fee” Workshop on June 19 in Springfield. This daylong event provides opportunity to share with those who have done it! For more information go to: www.otc.edu/about/tobaccofree.php.

Ty Patterson is the Director of The Center of Excellence for Tobacco-Free Campus Policy at Ozarks Technical Community College in Springfield, Mo.

Want Free Media Publicity?

Linda Cooperstock, MPH and public health planner for the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services, offers excellent tips on getting media publicity in this special guest blog at Missouri's Tobacco Control Exchange.

Have tips you'd like to share with other tobacco cessation and prevention specialists in Missouri? Contact Misouri's Tobacco Control Exchange Program Manager Angela Wilson at motobaccocontrol@gmail.com for details on guest blogging at this site.

How to Create a High School Smoking Cessation Program by Linda Cooperstock

Well, the tally is in, and you can bet that everyone knows that smoking is not healthy; that most smokers want to quit; and that quitting is the hardest thing to do.  Increasingly concerned high school students want to help their peers stop smoking.  Where do they start?

Creating a smoking cessation policy and program in high school is very similar to doing it in the community.  The high school community is just a bit smaller and more contained.  The people issues and politics are similar.  So, let’s start the say way we would start in a small town.

Community assessment:  It’s much easier and much less expensive to do surveys in the high school. With the help of a teacher or parent sponsor and some internet research on reputable websites you can develop a short assessment tool from which you can learn approximately how many students smoke, how much they smoke, when, whether they want to quit, and what would be the best time to offer a program. Surveys can be copied on brightly colored paper and available at a number of places throughout the school.  Ballot boxes can be set up for students to deposit their completed surveys.  You can even have a drawing that respondents can enter if they submit a completed survey. The results of this survey can establish the magnitude of the need. The fact that a survey is underway can be advertised through the usual methods in your school: posters, announcements, school paper, etc.

The other part of the community assessment is to do interviews with school leadership to learn what it would take to set aside some part of the day for a smoking cessation effort.  It might be before or after school, during lunch or study halls, or other free time.  Learn whether a policy needs to be written and what is the process for establishing a policy.  Is there a school committee or board, or is it at the discretion of the principal.  Have the results of your survey to show the need, a few facts about the value of offering smoking cessation, and a clear plan.

Training in brief counseling method of smoking cessation:  Students have a number of avenues to get peer-to-peer training for smoking cessation.  This is a matter of learning how to actively listen to the person who wants to quit.  Resources are available at little or no cost that offer smoking cessation advice, including recognizing triggers, using the 5-A’s, and scenarios. The brief counseling processing begins by asking a few questions about what makes the person want to smoke (what are the triggers) and having the person offer some suggestions he/she thinks that might help him/her avoid these triggers. It is important for the person who wants to quit to build a support circle.  The brief counseling can be done in small groups of students who are comfortable with each other. In this way the school follows the principles of worksite employee health programs. Sharing of problems, successes, and setbacks in the group helps by stimulating ideas for each person in the group. The support circle might be the students in their quitter’s group. We find that as with other positive health changes,  people are more successful when they participate in worksite programs because of the convenience, support from leaders (teachers/principals), and peer support. 

Use of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is not recommended in the high school setting.  First, even the over –the-counter products are not available to those under 18 years of age. Second, most high school students don’t smoke enough to warrant the use of medication. So, high school is the perfect setting to set up inexpensive, productive smoking cessation group counseling. The manual entitled Smoking Cessation in the Public Health Setting, while designed for health departments, has valuable information, scenarios, and suggestions that can be used in high school smoking cessation.

Linda Cooperstock, MPH, is the public health planner for the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services. Visit the department's Web site at www.gocolumbiamo.com/health

Communication Key to Statewide Clean Air Efforts by Jason Vander Weele

The smoke-free movement is generally organized community by community, and state by state.  This means that there are usually dozens of “Smoke-Free Coalitions” within any given state, all working toward THEIR community becoming smoke-free; whether it be a town, city, county, or region.

As one might imagine, each of these organizations have many differences from one to the other.  Some operate with no staff; others have many.  Some have grants; others have a passionate community member who can fund the effort.  Some are organized by people from health departments; others organized by a restaurant employee.  Each of these differences allows for both opportunities and obstacles.

As with most things, proper planning and communication can have a tremendous effect on the outcome of organizations’ efforts.  While it is important to perfect this within each organization, I argue that it is even more important to perfect this across all like organizations.

What I mean is that a cohesive, open, and easily accessible group needs to exist in order to match resources with needs while eliminating duplication of efforts.  I like to think of the smoke-free movement as a disaster-relief operation.  Every community is affected, groups pop up wanting to help in many of them, and every group both brings something to the table and is lacking some critical organizational need.  It is important that a mechanism exists which can maximize the impact of the entire operation, while supporting the individual organizations within it.

For example, suppose that an organization exists in Mukwonago County (yes, a piece of Wisconsin did come with me) which consists of health department employees who really would like to see their county become smoke-free.  They know everything there is to know about secondhand smoke, but don’t have any technical skills to create a website, and also don’t quite understand how to organize their community.  Meanwhile, there is a tech-savvy coalition across the state, in Oconomowoc County, that has organized well over 500 community members who consistently write letters and make phone calls, but have been unsuccessful in finding a nurse or doctor to speak at a community meeting about the health effects of secondhand smoke.  It is apparent that these two groups need to talk!  And, although that is obvious, it is surprising to me how many times I have seen communication, planning, and coordination between multiple organizations be dismissed as a time-consuming feat!

I argue that there needs to be a priority placed on communication, planning, and coordination between organizations.  There needs to be quarterly or monthly meetings, bringing all groups from across each state together to discuss current and future efforts, what ads are being run, the message, the volunteer capabilities, funding opportunities/problems, etc.  Without this coordination, disaster will happen.

For example, if multiple ads are being placed on the radio within the same region advertising two entirely different messages, most likely the public will become confused and uninterested.  However, if two ads were being placed in the same region with two complimentary messages, the awareness will be maximized and interest enhanced in the community.  The same goes for volunteer opportunities, letter campaigns, and legislature meet-and-greets.

The other piece to this puzzle is to ensure your organization is not duplicating the efforts of another.  If someone at the state health department is creating a 10 page document on secondhand smoke in your state, why would you create one?  This raises my next point…

Who should be at this table?  I say, “The more the merrier.”  If you are reading this blog post, most likely you should be at the table!  Too often people tend to think, “How does this apply to me?  What do I get out of this?”  Perhaps the answers to those questions are that it doesn’t apply to you, and you will not get anything out of it.  However, maybe someone ELSE will get something out of YOU being there.  This is a community effort.  Every moment is not going to be about getting something; sometimes it will be more about giving something.  Deal with it, and show up.

This concept, of organizing multiple organizations around a central concept/goal/idea, isn’t new.  It’s been around for a long time.  I think the greatest example of this can be seen in the disaster-relief world.  Essentially, the agencies that assist in disaster recovery continually meet, keep each other informed, ask for resources, and discuss needs.  And, while there are organizations that seem to be headed in this direction in the tobacco arena, such as http://ttac.org/, I believe a whole lot more needs to be done in this regard.  For some additional ideas on how to effectively organize across many agencies and organizations, see nationally: http://www.nvoad.org/ and in Missouri: http://sema.dps.mo.gov/msdrp.htm.

At the very least, face-to-face meetings between the leaders of each organization across Missouri need to occur on a regular basis.  Without this, organizations and individuals will tend to seclude themselves, which will lead to failed efforts.  With our most recent grade of “F” from the American Lung Association in tobacco issues, let’s not fail in the implementation of our tobacco-disaster recovery plan.

Jason Vander Weele currently works for BJC HealthCare School Outreach and Youth Development department in St. Louis, MO.  Jason is trained in Developing and Managing Volunteers by the Emergency Management Institute and has also been involved in numerous trainings with the Missouri Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster and the Disaster Recovery Partnership. He has been an active member of the Smoke-Free St. Louis City Coalition where he focuses on building key relationships and promoting grassroots volunteerism.  He served as a Fellow with AmeriCorps St. Louis’ Emergency Response Team, where he managed disaster-relief volunteer operations and coordinated the efforts of multiple non-governmental agencies.  His volunteer management expertise came from time spent working alongside numerous agencies after Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, Katrina and Rita in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.  He also coordinated AmeriCorps teams across Missouri during numerous ice, heat, and tornado emergencies.

In his free time, Jason enjoys playing billiards, learning about the newest technologies, and studying philosophy.  He can be contacted by email at jasonvanderweele@bjc.org. Find out about clean air efforts in St. Louis at http://www.smokefreestl.org/

Volunteering: Managing the Momentum in Missouri by Jason Vander Weele

 

The term “Volunteering” can describe various experiences in our culture and society.  To some, this term invokes feelings of dread, as it has always meant doing the dishes, picking up dog do, or mowing the lawn.  Others see volunteering as sacrificing some free time on a Saturday afternoon to help out at a homeless shelter, cook for a church function, or rake an elderly neighbor’s yard.  Most likely, in the volunteering scenarios described above, the volunteer is invested in either “giving up some of their time to help” or “passionately caring about changing a way of life”.

Time and time again, I have seen organizations treat volunteers as though they were employees.  And, time and time again, I have seen volunteers fed up with that.  Why do people volunteer?  While many books and papers have been written about this, I would argue that while many people want to help the cause they are volunteering for, internally they really want to be needed, to feel good about themselves, and to learn something new about themselves.  Of course, this is completely opposite of why most people go to work every day.  That is why being a successful volunteer manager means that one has to put away the notion of volunteerism being equivalent to employment.

My first volunteer experience was at a young age.  It was advertised that a children’s museum needed someone to manage their computer systems.  That is what I thought I would be doing and I had the skills to do it!  It turns out that what they really wanted was for me to “sit in the room with the computers and make sure the kids didn’t break them.”  Needless to say, I haven’t set foot in that place since my first day volunteering there.  The lesson I learned is that the message to potential and current volunteers is more important than what is being asked of them.

The reasons for wanting a smoke-free policy in your community can vary.  Some advocates want healthier workers, smoke-free kids, cleaner laundry, or better tasting food.  Regardless of the reasons why we want this, the end goal is simple and always the same: to achieve a smoke-free policy.

Often times, people view grassroots campaigns as a bunch of folks screaming at city buildings, crying for a cause, or doing things they shouldn’t do.  While the media might make that seem true, the reality is most of the time there are no cameras and the participants are simply sitting around a table talking about things and writing letters.

In my experience, I have found that there is always something more important than the cause.  That is, you MUST go above and beyond to SUPPORT your volunteers.  Ask yourself, “What AM I doing to GIVE ownership to the volunteers?”

So, you “want to ask a bunch of volunteers to help with the smoke-free movement in the community?”  Great!  There are a few things I have seen first hand that I believe can make or break an organization’s success in managing volunteers:

Break It!
-Within the first few minutes of meeting a volunteer, tell them to do something.
-Fail to ask volunteers about their life or interests
-Treat volunteers as though they are your subordinates and not equal to you
-Gather a group of volunteers, ask them what they think is best, and tell them they are wrong

Make It!
-Learn more about the volunteer’s life than you know about your cousin’s
-Help the volunteers realize, for themselves, the importance of what is going to be accomplished (i.e. instead of telling them “this is important because…” ask them why they think it is important.)
-Listen to their story
-Listen to their story
-Listen to their story

Additionally, make sure you understand your role as a volunteer manager:

Focus on what you plan to give the volunteer.  You can offer them a chunk of your time for QA, a history of the smoke-free movement, an introduction to some important community leaders, or maybe just some inside information they might appreciate knowing.

Volunteers act in response to their feelings and thoughts.  If you are prohibiting them from feeling good, or they are thinking you don’t truly care about them, they will give you nothing.  However, if they feel as though they owe it to you to help, they will give you more than you ever expected.

Stop thinking about volunteers as task-executors.  Nobody likes tasks.  The only reason anyone does a task is because they know it is important to achieving some end result.  If the first thing you were thinking the volunteer would be doing was carrying out your month-old to-do items, don’t expect them to come back!

Always put yourself in the perspective of the volunteer.  Remember, you are the expert, in most cases the volunteer knows very little.  Often, he or she is intimidated in asking for “more information”.  Make sure you take the time, every time, to spend at least a few moments bringing them up to speed on the “grand scheme”.  It WILL pay off down the road.

Make it rewarding.  Smile, laugh, have a good time.  Everything can’t always be serious, and not everyone will have a good time during their actual volunteer-time.

Make sure everyone in your organization, and all of the volunteers, are clear on what type of service it is.  Is this service going to be physical, mental, long-term, short-term, one time?  Is the volunteer allowed to offer advice for making change before the project begins?  Or is everything set in stone?  Believe it or not, failing to address these questions can result in people not coming back.

Never, ever, ever ask for advice if you do not plan to make changes.  I’ve witnessed volunteers asked to come together to help make decisions on what the future would bring. 

It turned out that they were brought together to be told what decisions have been made on what the future will bring.  If you already know exactly how you are going to carry out your mission, don’t ask for input, unless, of course, you want to see a roomful of hurt feelings and disgruntled volunteers.

If you feel comfortable, allow the volunteers to be a leader.  Just because someone is volunteering doesn’t mean they aren’t an amazing leader.  Maybe that’s really what they wanted in the first place.

Don’t talk negative – about anything, anyone, or any organization.  I have heard many people talking negative as a way to “connect” with the volunteers, and it so happened a volunteer’s brother worked for the agency that was being bashed.  Most of the time, negative-talkers simply don’t know how to communicate with others.  Negativity is not a connector.  Don’t do it.

Eliminate the word “get” from your vocabulary.  Volunteers aren’t a heard of cattle waiting for you to “get” them to produce milk.  Volunteers want to be asked to do things, not told to “get” them done.  The word tends to put up barriers between staff and volunteers, which leads to nothing “getting” done.

Follow these tips, and you are well on your way to successfully managing volunteers and making your community smoke-free!

Jason Vander Weele currently works for BJC HealthCare School Outreach and Youth Development department in St. Louis, MO.  Jason is trained in Developing and Managing Volunteers by the Emergency Management Institute and has also been involved in numerous trainings with the Missouri Voluntary Agencies Active in Disaster and the Disaster Recovery Partnership. He has been an active member of the Smoke-Free St. Louis City Coalition where he focuses on building key relationships and promoting grassroots volunteerism.  He served as a Fellow with AmeriCorps St. Louis’ Emergency Response Team, where he managed disaster-relief volunteer operations and coordinated the efforts of multiple non-governmental agencies.  His volunteer management expertise came from time spent working alongside numerous agencies after Hurricanes Ivan, Dennis, Katrina and Rita in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.  He also coordinated AmeriCorps teams across Missouri during numerous ice, heat, and tornado emergencies.

In his free time, Jason enjoys playing billiards, learning about the newest technologies, and studying philosophy.  He can be contacted by email at jasonvanderweele@bjc.org. Find out about clean air efforts in St. Louis at http://www.smokefreestl.org/

Getting Free Media coverage for your Tobacco Control Campaign by Linda Cooperstock

Short of streaking down Main Street wearing nothing but a “smoke-free community” sign, there are several ways to get media attention without paying for ads. The following is a list of techniques. Some are self explanatory.

Letter to the editor The general public reads letters to the editor and blog-type comments.  Unfortunately, these types of letters are based in fervor and passion and not in fact.  But your letter should be professional, to the point, and based in fact.  Examples of good letters may be found in a number of locations, including Americans for Nonsmokers Rights.

Op-ed piece Usually longer than a letter, is based in substantiated facts and not just reactive. Often the paper will run both sides of an argument on the same op-ed page.  It is important to be very familiar with the opposing thoughts and address them in a systematic, factual manner.
Letters from special populations that engender attention: youth, senior citizens, people especially sensitive to secondhand smoke (those with asthma, heart disease, emphysema, etc).  Someone with a specific issue can connect with other like-minded readers.

Introduce the smoke-free topic at a local government meeting Due to the Sunshine Law, all government meetings are open to the public.  Usually when tobacco or smoke-free policies are on the agenda the media will show up to cover the story.  When our community held public hearings in conjunction with the proposed smoke-free policy the media showed up in droves. We had standing room only. It is very important to recognize the presence of the media, have a one-page description for them when they arrive, and make time to talk to each of them at the end of the meeting to answer their specific questions. They will often apply a negative twist on the story to create controversy because this increases readership.

Issue a press release when national news is issued For example, for a new CDC report, a surgeon general statement, new research findings, announcing another state’s new smoke-free policy, when a legitimate source announces benefits of smoke-free communities, etc. These can be important sources of your news.  Local print and broadcast media will be more responsive if you tie the national news with the local situation.  You should have several local high-profile supporters prepared to speak to the media to make it relevant.

Issue a press release to announce you community’s activities in conjunction with a national event Great American Smoke-out, World No Tobacco Day, etc. This is similar to the previous suggestion.  It is a way to tie national or world news to local activities.  Have a list of all local activities, sponsors, and participants to share when the media calls for interviews. Be sure that everyone who talks to the media is carrying the same message.  Usually the message is that secondhand smoke is dangerous to everyone and that your activities strive for a healthy environment for all.

Hold rallies for local candidates who are supportive of smoke-free environment ordinances Announce rallies or candidate parties to the media.  This is a way to support someone running for a local policy-making office and it has two possible outcomes:  getting a smoke-free proponent in office AND drawing publicity for that candidate to help his/her election.  Your smoke-free coalition or individual members can host a “meet the candidate” party and alert the media.  If the media doesn’t show up, you can send pictures to the newspaper for publication in their “around the town” type of column.  Be sure to include why the event was held. (Be sure the candidate is OK with this type of publicity, it might backfire!).

Announce a new program, such as one focused on youth, or cessation Especially in a smaller community, the media is always ready for news that has local impact. If you’ve received a grant, no matter how large or small, you can announce this.  Informing the media of a new partnership between the smoke-free interests and a community business or agency is also of importance.

Issue a press release about the local impact of smoking or secondhand smoke  Take a national statistic and make it local.  How many of YOUR citizens, students, etc does the national number represent?  How many thousands of pounds of discarded, non-biodegradable cigarette butts are being dumped into YOUR landfill or down YOUR sewers, etc.  It doesn’t have to be “new” news, just a new twist on giving it local flavor.

Host an event that is likely to draw a large crowd and announce to the media  Perhaps a fund raiser for one of the agencies that is concerned with smoking, cancer, or other tobacco-related issues.

Have a float or a group march in a holiday or homecoming parade  Be sure to have large signs with your smoke-free mission. Wear T-shirts with you logo. Or have unusual handouts for the parade – balloons that say “smoke-free” and your city’s name, or other provocative message (save our children…from secondhand smoke, etc).  You can get ideas from a number of sources including:
American Cancer Society
American Lung Association 
American Heart Association
CDC
Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Have the mayor sign a proclamation relating to a healthier, smoke-free community  Invite the media to the signing.

Ask media to investigate If you have the resources and are bold, you might do or suggest the local media conduct an expose on a local policy maker, sporting sponsor, or business that accepts tobacco funds.  The conflict of interest angle would trigger media attention.  A caution: this type of tactic needs to be well planned, be researched in depth, and above all, must be true. Always provide a contact for their follow-up questions.

It is important to cultivate a positive relationship with the media by being honest, provide trustworthy information, and be responsive to media needs.

Linda Cooperstock, MPH, is the public health planner for the Columbia/Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services. Visit the department's Web site at www.gocolumbiamo.com/health