Local Health Agency Program Technical Assistance and Peer Mentoring

The Peer Mentor Program, the Tobacco Advocacy and Resource Partnership (TARP) and STEPP came together last year to develop an updated model for providing technical assistance and mentoring for fiscal year 2007-08. This model will be continued for 2008-09.

Our goal is to provide the best technical assistance possible with the resources available by offering a connected network of services designed to meet a wide variety of needs. We want to make sure that the process for accessing these services is easy and efficient and that the roles of the individuals providing the services are understandable and not duplicative. We want to keep technical assistance and peer mentoring options available for agencies that would like to take advantage of them, and free up time for agencies that do not. Literature on adult learning and communication styles, as well as effective coaching models, suggests that these models are most successful when they are voluntary and when they are offered in a variety of ways. As a result, technical assistance opportunities are offered via STEPP staff, Learning Communities, and the Peer Mentor Program.

STEPP serves as a navigator to local health agencies in Colorado’s tobacco control system, linking you with partners and resources, presenting capacity building opportunities, and providing leadership on best practices and effective strategies. In addition, STEPP offers guidance on the grant application process and state contractual and fiscal requirements. All funded local health agencies are required to take advantage of these fundamental opportunities for technical assistance. The level of participation in each will be determined by individual agency capacity and need.

Learning Communities and Peer Mentor services are offered on an opt-in basis. Peer Mentors serve as comprehensive strategic thinking partners who have extensive experience synthesizing the “big picture” of tobacco prevention and control. Learning Communities will continue, whereby local health agency representatives whose action plans focus on similar policy initiatives will have an opportunity to come together on a regular basis to discuss their work. Technical assistance in policy will occur through these groups. Learning Community members will strategize around the planning, implementation, successes, and pitfalls of specific policy initiatives. In addition, TARP Policy Managers will provide technical assistance to communities actively engaged in policy work in smoke-free housing, youth access, or smoke-free public places. Full details on all of the opportunities for technical assistance and mentoring are described in the “Menu of Services” located to the right under Helpful Links.

All responding agencies will be provided full information regarding their Peer Mentor and/or Learning Community contact prior to September 1. If you have meetings/calls planned with a Learning Community or Peer Mentor in the interim, they will continue as planned and not be affected by this registration process. Please contact Andrea Sherman at 303-692-3015 or (andrea.sherman@state.co.us) with any questions regarding the model, or if you would like to troubleshoot or share any programmatic or contractual achievements or needs.

In Helpful Links, please find a copy of the “Registration for Learning Communities and Peer Mentoring.” Please review the registration form with your agency director, supervisor, and/or program staff, if applicable, and e-mail all completed applications to Andrea Sherman, LHA Community Programs Specialist, at (andrea.sherman@state.co.us) no later than August 12, 2008.

Latino Statewide Tobacco Prevention and Education Network Continues with Interim Funding

The Tobacco Education, Prevention and Cessation Grant Program Review Committee has recommended that interim funding be awarded to an organization in order to continue the Latino Statewide Tobacco Prevention and Education Network (LSTPEN) for three months while a new Request for Proposal is released. LSTPEN is an initiative to build capacity for tobacco control in Colorado Latino communities.

The newly appointed Tobacco Disparities Subcommittee has been charged with selecting an appropriate contractor.

A conference call for LSTPEN members has been set up for July 18 from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. to provide an update on this three-month interim project for LSTPEN. To view the draft work plan, please go to Helpful Links.

The agenda will include the following:
•Update on 3 month LSTPEN Interim Project
•Open discussion, Q & A
•Request for feedback and finalize the “Draft” work plan

Please find the call-in information below:

Dial the Reservation Conferencing access number:
720-348-8441 local
866-899-5399 toll free

Dial the Reservation Conferencing room number: * 1389619 *
(Note: the star key must be pressed before and after your room number). Please wait to be added to the conference.

Local Health Agencies to Submit Policy Phase Tracker

This is to serve as a reminder that along with the Quarter 4 Report, each local health agency should also complete and attach a Policy Tracking Form. The objective of collecting these data is to help us better understand our progress as a program in the area of policy change, improve our technical assistance efforts, and better strategize policy movements across the state. The policies listed represent those priorities identified in the 08 -09 STEPP Request for Application. A copy of the Policy Tracking Form that has been used as a companion to this year’s quarterly reports is attached to the right under Helpful Links.

For further information regarding the key policy phases listed (organizing; building and education; mobilizing; and implementing and enforcing) please visit the "Breathing Smoke-Free Air – Colorado’s Secondhand Smoke Toolkit" located online at www.steppcolorado.com, under “Apply for Funds & Grants” and “Helpful Background Documents.” While this toolkit was developed specifically for secondhand smoke efforts, the descriptions may be generalized to most policy efforts.

Local Health Agency Annual Report

To all local health agencies, thank you for your dedicated work in tobacco prevention and control programs throughout the past grant year. This is a reminder that the submission of a final report detailing your agency’s activities and accomplishments is a contractual requirement for all STEPP-funded agencies. Information contained in the report is used in evaluation efforts performed by the Amendment 35 Evaluation Group (APEG), in the development of reports to the Colorado Board of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as to inform STEPP staff of emerging needs and highlighted accomplishments. Thank you in advance for your time in sharing this information. A template of this report is attached to right under Helpful Links. Please complete and submit the report by August 31, 2008.

No Keeping in STEPP Publication the Week of July 21

Please note that we will not publish a Keeping in STEPP newsletter the week of July 21 due to the majority of STEPP staff attending a national conference. Thank you for your understanding.

Colorado QuitLine Virtual Tours

Colorado QuitLine is now offering virtual tours instead of onsite visits. These virtual tours give participants the ability to save time and learn from a remote location that’s convenient for them. The virtual tours provide information about the free Colorado QuitLine telephonic and web-based services available at 1.800.QUIT.NOW and www.coquitline.org – including how trained coaches use tailored counseling techniques to assist callers and address common concerns such as how to deal with cravings, manage stress and lessen weight gain. The virtual tours, which last approximately 60-90 minutes, will be offered on the fourth Thursday of every other month through November 2008.

The Colorado QuitLine virtual tour is a useful resource to promote to health care providers and others in the community.

Participants may register for QuitLine Virtual Tour sessions through the CO-TRAIN Training Management System at www.co.train.org. Please login to your CO-TRAIN account and register to receive additional information to participate on the QuitLine Virtual Tours. If you have not created an account on CO-TRAIN, please visit www.co.train.org, create your new account and register for a session.

The CO-TRAIN Course ID Number is 1013164.

For further information regarding the Colorado QuitLine, please contact Debbie Montgomery, cessation director, at 303-692.2509 or by e-mail at (debbie.montogomery.com) For information and assistance regarding registration and CO-TRAIN accounts, please contact Shingo Ishida, STEPP training coordinator, at 303-692-2551 or by e-mail at shingo.ishida@state.co.us.

Dates: All scheduled times are 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

07/24/2008
09/25/2008
11/27/2008

Colorado Society for Public Health Education Hosts Cultural Competency and Health Education Presentation

The Colorado Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) is hosting a presentation on cultural competency and health education titled "Increasing Impact for Youth and Families in Disparately Affected Communities."

Key learning objectives are to

•Explore the role of family and community in health education efforts;
•Understand the impact of family/community culture on effectiveness of programs; and
•Identify ways to effectively connect to and collaborate with youth, families and communities to increase impact.

Presenter information: Dr. Shelley Zion currently works at the University of Colorado Denver as an associate research professor in the School of Education and serves as the executive director of the Culturally Responsive Urban Education (CRUE) center. The CRUE center provides technical assistance and training to schools and districts that are working to address issues of equity in their schools—achievement gaps, disproportionately in special education, disproportionately in discipline, and gaps in graduation and dropout.

When
August 11, 2008 - 9:00 a.m. 11:00 a. m.

Where
American Cancer Society, 2253 S. Oneida Street, Denver, 80224

The meeting rooms are in the back of the building on the 1st floor. Parking is free and conveniently located behind the building.

Continuing education: An application has been submitted to SOPHE to award two, Category I CHES CECH. SOPHE is a designated provider of Continuing Education Contact Hours by the National Commission of Health Education Credentialing.

For details including how to register, please go to
https://secure.onlineprocessing.biz/2/calpho/index.php?s=7&item=50®ister=1

COSOPHE is committed to excellence in health education by providing leadership to the profession, advancing health education, and advocating for public health policies.

Introduction to Public Health in Colorado

This day-and-a-half course is a comprehensive introduction to public health with presentations from experts in the field on public health history, the structure of Colorado's public health system, Health Disparities, the 10 Essential Public Health Services, Emergency Preparedness, Chronic Disease, Environmental Health, and Health Statistics.

The $40 per person training includes a light breakfast on both days and lunch on day one.

Thursday, August 7 (8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.)
and
Friday, August 8 (8:30a.m. - noon)

Eagle County Conference Room
500 Broadway
Eagle, CO 81631

Registration is online at https://secure.onlineprocessing.biz/2/calpho/index.php?s[eql]7&item[eql]27®ister[eql]1

Rescheduled July 23 Tobacco Cessation Conference Call Postponed

The regularly scheduled tobacco disparities conference call is cancelled for July 23. In previous KIS publications, we announced that STEPP would schedule a tobacco cessation conference call for this date. This conference call will be postponed until further notice.

Youth Tobacco Conference Call: Senate Bill 88 and Changes in Youth Access to Tobacco Laws in Colorado – July 30

Join us for a special conference call on youth tobacco initiatives regarding Senate Bill 88, “Teen Tobacco Use Prevention Act” on Wednesday, July 30 from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. The Tobacco Advocacy and Resource Partnership will present information about Senate Bill 88 that went into effect July 1, 2008. The conference call is specifically targeted for local health agencies and programs working with youth. We will discuss changes in Colorado law and the implications of this new legislation.

Please find the PowerPoint presentation that will be used throughout the conference call in Helpful Links.

To participate in the call, dial the reservationless conferencing access number:
303-346-9744 local or 866-427-0084 toll free and the reservationless conferencing room number: * 2421326 *
(Note: the star key must be pressed before and after your room number). Wait to be added to the conference.

Learning Communities’ Schedule

Learning Communities provide an opportunity for those on the front lines of tobacco prevention and education to share ideas and elicit help from their peers. If you have any questions about the Learning Communities, please contact Nick Mechikoff at the American Lung Association at or (303) 847-0282.

The following is the schedule for the next Learning Communities’ calls:

Community Mobilization – Aug. 7 at 2:30 p.m.
Participants will focus on how to build and work with community coalitions to implement local tobacco control efforts.

Smoke-Free Public Places – Aug.13 at 10:00 a.m.
Having trouble with a local business that is not complying with the Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act? Confused about a court decision regarding the smoke-free law? Participants will share strategies on how to move businesses toward compliance and increase public support for the law.

Campus Policy – Aug. 19 at 10 a.m.
Participants will explore strategies used to create and support smoke-free policies on campuses. Campuses include hospitals, work sites, colleges and industrial complexes.

Smoke-Free Housing – Aug. 20 at 10:00 a.m.
Participants will discuss strategies on how to implement smoke-free multi-unit housing policies (i.e., apartments and condominiums). Discussions will involve how to educate and engage property managers/owners and tenant coalitions.

Youth Access – Aug. 26 at 2:00 p.m.
Participants will discuss strategies used to implement policies that reduce and prevent youth access to tobacco. Participants will draw on the lessons learned from other states.

The conference call number for all Learning Communities’ calls remains the same:
(866) 740-1260; code 6616326.

Each topic area offers maps, contact lists of community members and updates about specific areas located at the Web address below. Additionally, interested parties can download conference call notes or audio casts from specific dates at the following web page: www.steppcolorado.com/learningcommunities.aspx A password is needed to enter the section.

Metro-Denver QuitLine Summer Event – Dragon Boat Festival

This summer, STEPP and the Colorado QuitLine have sponsored a number of metro-Denver priority/disparities events. The intent is to promote the QuitLine to adult tobacco users from a variety of priority/disparities populations and to encourage them to quit. The Dragon Boat Festival is the last metro-Denver QuitLine summer event.

Dragon Boat Festival – July 26-27

Summer 2008 Rodeo Schedule

This summer, STEPP and the Colorado QuitLine will be sponsoring a number of county fairs and rodeos around Colorado. The intent is to promote the QuitLine to adult, male spit users and encourage them to quit. In addition, the sponsorships prohibit events from taking sponsorship money from tobacco companies.

The following events have been selected based on the overall budget, geographic location, population in attendance and previous sponsorship experience. The following is the summer rodeo event schedule:

•El Paso County Fair & Rodeo in Calhan (El Paso County) – July 19-26
•Mesa County Fair & Rodeo in Grand Junction (Mesa County) – July 22-27
•Adams County Fair & Rodeo in Brighton (Adams County) – July 30-Aug. 3
•Larimer County Fair & Rodeo in Loveland (Larimer County) – Aug. 1-5
•Garfield County Fair & Rodeo in Rifle (Garfield County) – Aug. 1-9
•Logan County Fair & Rodeo in Sterling (Logan County) – Aug. 5-10
•La Plata County Fair & Rodeo in Durango (La Plata County) – Aug. 8-12
•Routt County Fair & Rodeo in Hayden (Routt County) – Aug. 8-17
•Middle Park Fair & Rodeo in Kremmling (Grand County) – August 10
•Arkansas Valley Fair & Rodeo in Rocky Ford (Otero County) – Aug. 13-17
•Las Animas County Fair & Rodeo in Trinidad (Las Animas County) – Aug. 27-September 1

Waking a Sleeping Giant: The Tobacco Industry’s Response to the Polonium-210 Issue

American Journal of Public Health, July 16, 2008

Monique E. Muggli 1*, Jon O. Ebbert 1, Channing Robertson 2, Richard D. Hurt 1

1 Mayo Clinic
2 Stanford

Abstract

The major tobacco manufacturers discovered that polonium was part of tobacco and tobacco smoke more than 40 years ago and attempted, but failed, to remove this radioactive substance from their products. Internal tobacco industry documents reveal that the companies suppressed publication of their own internal research to avoid heightening the public’s awareness of radioactivity in cigarettes. Tobacco companies continue to minimize their knowledge about polonium-210 in cigarettes in smoking and health litigation. Cigarette packs should carry a radiation-exposure warning label.

To subscribe or pay per article, please go to
www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2007.130963v1

Tobacco Industry Control of Menthol in Cigarettes and Targeting of Adolescents and Young Adults

American Journal of Public Health, July 16, 2008

Jennifer M. Kreslake 1*, Geoffrey Ferris Wayne 1, Hillel R. Alpert 1, Howard K. Koh 1, Gregory N. Connolly 1

1 Harvard School of Public Health, Division of Public Health Practice


Abstract

Objectives. We examined whether tobacco manufacturers manipulate the menthol content of cigarettes in an effort to target adolescents and young adults.

Methods. We analyzed data from tobacco industry documents describing menthol product development, results of laboratory testing of US menthol brands, market research reports, and the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Results. The tobacco industry attracted new smokers by promoting cigarettes with lower menthol content, which were popular with adolescents and young adults, and provided cigarettes with higher menthol content to long-term smokers. Menthol cigarette sales remained stable from 2000 to 2005 in the United States, despite a 22% decline in overall packs sold.

Conclusions. Tobacco companies manipulate the sensory characteristics of cigarettes, including menthol content, thereby facilitating smoking initiation and nicotine dependence. Menthol brands that have used this strategy have been the most successful in attracting youth and young adult smokers and have grown in popularity.

To subscribe or pay per article, please go to
www.ajph.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2007.125542v1

Disparities in Secondhand Smoke Exposure

Secondhand smoke exposure has declined markedly in the U.S. population since the late 1980s. Nevertheless in 1999-2004, almost 50 percent of nonsmokers still had detectable levels of serum cotinine, a biochemical measurement of secondhand smoke exposure. This underscores that efforts are still needed to further reduce or eliminate all exposures to secondhand smoke.

Exposure to secondhand smoke declined markedly in the U.S. population between1988-1994 and 1999-2004. Reported secondhand smoke exposure inside the home declined from 21 percent to 10 percent. Serum cotinine levels, a biochemical indicator of any detectable secondhand smoke exposure, declined from 84 percent to 46 percent. These declines reflect the implementation of laws and policies that prohibit smoking outside the home environment. Despite an overall improvement, disparities in exposure among subpopulations widened. From 1999-2004, children were four times more likely to be exposed at home than were adults (23.8% vs 5.9%). A higher percentage of non-Hispanic blacks and persons from low income families were exposed to secondhand smoke than their counterparts. Strategies to reduce these gaps will help protect the harmful health effects of secondhand smoke exposure.

To read the full article in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, please go to Helpful Links in this section.

Secondhand Smoke Increases Hospital Admissions for All Types of Infectious Diseases

May 23, 2008, Newswise

Children exposed to secondhand tobacco smoke are more likely to get severe infectious diseases and have to be admitted to hospital, finds research published in Tobacco Control.

These children are at greater risk of a whole range of infectious illnesses, such as meningococcal disease, and not just respiratory illness, the results showed. Exposure to smoke in the first few months of life did the most harm, especially if they had a low birth weight or had been born prematurely.

The researchers assessed the relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and first admission to hospital for any infectious illness for 7,402 children born in Hong Kong in April and May 1997. The children were followed until they were 8 years old.

Children who lived in the household of someone who smoked within three metres of them during their first few months of life were the most at risk of being admitted to hospital with one in three admitted by the age of 12 months.

The earlier the exposure to smoke the more profound the effect with exposure to second hand smoke during the first six months of life increasing the likelihood of being admitted to hospital for an infectious disease during the eight years by almost 45 percent.

More vulnerable infants were also at increased risk of hospitalization with those born with a low birth weight being 75 per cent more likely to be admitted to hospital with an infectious disease during the eight years and those who were premature being twice as likely.

The authors suggest that secondhand smoke might affect the immune as well as the respiratory system of young children. "An excess risk of severe morbidity from both respiratory and other infections for all infants exposed to second hand smoke suggests that such exposure, as well as acting via direct contact with the respiratory tract, may also affect the immune system," they say.

They add that premature infants and those with a low birth rate might be more at risk because their respiratory and immune systems were less well developed.

To read the full article, please go to
http://press.psprings.co.uk/tc/may/tc23887.pdf

Chaffee County Seeks Director of Public Health

The Chaffee County Board of Commissioners and the Department of Health and Human Services has a full-time position for Director of Public Health. This position manages a variety of nursing, assessment and administrative activities to ensure the health and welfare of Chaffee County children and adult residents; supervises department staff; performs nursing duties as a Public Health Nurse. Minimum education: Completion of a certified nursing program. Bachelor's degree in Nursing is required, Masters preferred.

For full job description and application, please go to the following web page:
www.chaffeecounty.org/GigPage.aspx?PageID[eql]273

The State Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership's (STEPP) weekly online newsletter, Keeping in STEPP (KIS), has established an approval policy regarding all articles submitted by STEPP grantees.

STEPP staff members ask that grantees submit articles with content that is relevant to tobacco education and prevention within the following parameters:

• evidence-based program research
• evidence-based program successes
• innovative programs
• announcements regarding new programs, scholarships, events or jobs.

When an article is submitted to the STEPP media staff, it will be sent to the grantee's contract manager for initial approval. If the article is approved, the contract manager will notify the media staff, and the article will be edited as needed. The STEPP Director will approve the final edited version of the weekly newsletter. If the grantee's article is not approved, the contract manager will communicate the reason to the grantee and the STEPP media staff.

We highly encourage article submissions for KIS to keep all partners up to date on the latest tobacco control information.