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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Ryan C. Burke, MPH, Nancy B. Mueller, MPH, Jenine K. Harris, MA, MAT, and Tanya P. Montgomery, MPH. Center for Tobacco Policy Research, Saint Louis University, 3545 Lafayette Ave., Suite 300, St. Louis, MO 63104, 314.249.3679, rcburke@gmail.com

Although evaluation of state tobacco control programs has become more prevalent over the past decade, little is known about effective techniques for disseminating evaluation results to state tobacco control professionals. In 2005 the Center for Tobacco Policy Research evaluated eight state tobacco control programs, and studied three different ways to disseminate evaluation results back to the states: via traditional printed reports, via tailored websites, and via in-person workshops. Our hypothesis was that states receiving evaluation results via the website or in-person workshop would utilize the evaluation data more frequently and effectively than states only receiving evaluation data in traditional report form. Baseline data were collected from participants in order to characterize: 1) the agencies in the state tobacco control network and their relationships with each other, 2) the state's current financial and political climate, and 3) the current knowledge and awareness of evidence-based tobacco control information and state-specific evaluation data. Seventy people attended the workshops, 103 were sent links to a tailored website, and 204 were sent the report series. After dissemination of the evaluation findings, data were collected again to determine the awareness, usefulness, secondary dissemination, and influence of the evaluation findings. This presentation will highlight these comparisons, showing which mode of dissemination was most successful in communicating research findings to the state tobacco control partners in the study. The results presented will be useful to tobacco control professionals and funding agencies in making decisions on how best to disseminate information.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant will be able to

• Compare and contrast three different modes of dissemination, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of each method.
• Characterize the three dissemination modes in terms of awareness, utilization, and influence among tobacco control professionals.
• Discuss the advantages and disadvantages to applying a particular method for the dissemination of their own research.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered

Handout (.pdf format, 1605.4 kb)