309633
Monitoring and targeting policy improvement utilizing a novel sub-county tobacco policy surveillance system
Policies were collected from all 39 local cities, through online municipal codes or city officials. Public college policies were available online. 31/40 institutions were included; smaller institutions excluded with over-sampled in areas of tobacco disparities. Policy variables were identified, codebooks were developed and each policy was coded with inter-rater reliability analysis. Variables were selected for visual display and mapping.
We found variation among local policies in both datasets. While most post-secondary students are covered by some policy, a wide range of prohibitions exist. Few are 100% smoking free and significant exceptions exist. Nearly half of institutions have no policies. For parks, 12/39 cities had policies in 2013 (up from 5 in 2010). Five in South King County (highest disparities area) had no policies for parks or no policies for some. Four cities prohibited all smoking in 100% of parks in 2013 (up from 0 in 2010).
Although time and labor-intensive, rigorous policy surveillance methods are needed locally so that laws are written optimally and to discover/eliminate disparities. Significant room for improvement exists in tobacco policy across King County parks and post-secondary institutions; findings can shape/direct health department activities. Use of open source systems creates efficiencies for regular benchmarking of policy over time.
Learning Areas:
Public health or related laws, regulations, standards, or guidelinesPublic health or related public policy
Public health or related research
Learning Objectives:
Explain the process of creating policy surveillance system for local laws and policies. Describe the use of a policy surveillance system in improving local law and policy.
Keyword(s): Law, Local Public Health Agencies
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have a practice and academic background in policy, and have led advocacy work related to tobacco policy on college campuses. I have served on several tobacco-related research grants (private foundation) and currently manage an academic program on tobacco studies. I was the lead researcher on the King County study of parks' and college campuses' policy surveillance.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.