Evaluation of an adolescent smoking-cessation media campaign: GottaQuit.com. (57/352)

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of a smoking-cessation media campaign for teens on utilization of a cessation Web site, GottaQuit.com. METHODS: Telephone surveys were conducted before and after the implementation of a countywide media campaign to promote the use of a smoking-cessation Web site for youths. The surveys were designed to assess teen awareness and utilization of the Web site, as well as tobacco use and cessation attempts. Supplemental 2003 Youth Risk Behavior Survey items also assessed use of the Web site. RESULTS: Most teen smokers reported that they wanted to quit smoking. Almost all teens reported exposure to GottaQuit.com ads and accurately identified GottaQuit.com as a Web site that offers cessation help for youths. Nearly 1 in 4 smokers who were trying to quit had visited GottaQuit.com or another Web site for cessation assistance. CONCLUSIONS: The GottaQuit.com campaign effectively reached almost all teens, regardless of smoking status. Smokers were more likely than nonsmokers to have visited the Web site for help with quitting. Web adjuncts are likely to be used by adolescents who seek assistance in quitting.  (+info)

The first decade of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program. (58/352)

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the first decade of the Massachusetts Tobacco Control Program (MTCP). Born after Massachusetts passed a 1992 ballot initiative raising cigarette excise taxes to fund the program, MTCP greatly reduced statewide cigarette consumption before being reduced to a skeletal state by funding cuts. The article describes the program's components and goals, details outcomes, presents a summary of policy accomplishments, and reviews the present status of MTCP in the current climate of national and state fiscal crises. The first decade of the MTCP offers many lessons learned for the future of tobacco control.  (+info)

Improving quality of care for depression: the German Action Programme for the implementation of evidence-based guidelines. (59/352)

ISSUE: Depressive disorders are of great medical and political significance. The potential inherent in achieving better guideline orientation and a better collaboration between different types of care is clear. Throughout the 1990s, educational initiatives were started for implementing guidelines. Evidence-based guidelines on depression have been formulated in many countries. PURPOSE: This article presents an action programme for structural, educational, and research-related measures to implement evidence-based care of depressive disorders in the German health system. The starting points of the programme are the 'Guidelines Critical Appraisal Reports' of the 'Guideline Clearing House' and measures from the 'Competence Network on Depression and Suicidality' (CNDS) funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The article gives an overview of the steps achieved as recommended by the Guidelines Critical Appraisal Reports and the ongoing transfer process into the German health care system. RESULTS: The action programme shows that comprehensive interventions to develop and introduce evidence-based guidelines for depression can achieve benefits in the care of depression, e.g. in recognition, management, and clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: It was possible to implement the German Action Programme in selected care settings, and initial evaluation results suggest some improvements. The action programme provides preliminary work, materials, and results for developing a future 'Disease Management Programme' (DMP) for depression.  (+info)

Geocoding and social marketing in Alabama's cancer prevention programs. (60/352)

The Alabama Department of Public Health (ADPH) is collaborating with the National Cancer Institute to develop detailed profiles of underserved Alabama communities most at risk for cancer. These profiles will be combined with geocoded data to create a pilot project, Cancer Prevention for Alabama's Underserved Populations: A Focused Approach. The project's objectives are to provide the ADPH's cancer prevention programs with a more accurate and cost-effective means of planning, implementing, and evaluating its prevention activities in an outcomes-oriented and population-appropriate manner. The project links geocoded data from the Alabama Statewide Cancer Registry with profiles generated by the National Cancer Institute's cancer profiling system, Consumer Health Profiles. These profiles have been successfully applied to market-focused cancer prevention messages across the United States. The ADPH and the National Cancer Institute will evaluate the efficacy of using geocoded data and lifestyle segmentation information in strategy development and program implementation. Alabama is the first state in the nation not only to link geocoded cancer registry data with lifestyle segmentation data but also to use the National Cancer Institute's profiles and methodology in combination with actual state data.  (+info)

Evaluating a tailored intervention to increase screening mammography in an urban area. (61/352)

METHOD: The study was conducted over a four-year period, 1996 and 2000. Participants were recruited using Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) software and random-digit dialing (RDD). Study eligibility criteria included living in the King/Drew Medical Center service area in Los Angeles, having an operable telephone, being female > or = 40 years old and not having had a screening mammogram in the past year. Four-hundred-thirty respondents were randomly assigned to the intervention and comparison groups. English and Spanish focus-group-tested tailored interventions were administered telephonically by trained interviewers. African Americans and Latinas constituted 83.0% of the sample at assignment and 83.8% at six-month follow-up, which is representative of the study area. RESULTS: The main outcome variable of interest in this study was having a screening mammogram during the time interval between baseline and the six-month follow-up assessment. Multiple logistic regressions that revealed factors predicting the outcome variable included: 1) age (p < or = 0.05, OR=2.22, CI 0.98-5.0); 2) study group (p < or = 0.05, OR=1.76, CI 1.06-2.92); 3) prior mammograms (p < or = 0.05, O0R=2.51, 1.39-4.56); and 4) and knowledge of the age when a woman should begin getting mammograms on a regular basis (p < or = 0.05, OR=0.55, 0.33-0.92). CONCLUSION: Tailored telephone counseling increased the instances of screening mammograms by nearly 8% in the intervention group at follow-up. The results of this study confirm previous findings regarding the impact of structural and behavioral factors related to screening mammography.  (+info)

Reducing HIV/AIDS transmission among African-American females: is the female condom a solution? (62/352)

Rates of HIV/AIDS have increased at an alarming rate among minority women, especially African-American women. Suggestions that have been presented to decrease HIV/AIDS transmission among African-American women include promoting abstinence and the use of the male condom. Little recognition and support have been given for promoting the female condom as a viable solution to combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  (+info)

Using focus groups in the consumer research phase of a social marketing program to promote moderate-intensity physical activity and walking trail use in Sumter County, South Carolina. (63/352)

INTRODUCTION: The use of social marketing approaches in public health practice is increasing. Using marketing concepts such as the "four Ps" (product, price, place, and promotion), social marketing borrows from the principles of commercial marketing but promotes beneficial health behaviors. Consumer research is used to segment the population and develop a strategy based on those marketing concepts. In a community-based participatory research study, 17 focus groups were used in consumer research to develop a social marketing program to promote walking and other moderate-intensity physical activities. METHODS: Two phases of focus groups were conducted. Phase 1 groups, which included both men and women, were asked to respond to questions that would guide the development of a social marketing program based on social marketing concepts. Phase 1 also determined the intervention's target audience, which was irregularly active women aged 35 to 54. Phase 2 groups, composed of members of the target audience, were asked to further define the product and discuss specific promotion strategies. RESULTS: Phase 1 participants determined that the program product, or target behavior, should be walking. In addition, they identified price, place, and promotion strategies. Phase 2 participants determined that moderate-intensity physical activity is best promoted using the term exercise and offered suggestions for marketing walking, or exercise, to the target audience. CONCLUSION: There have been few published studies of social marketing campaigns to promote physical activity. In this study, focus groups were key to understanding the target audience in a way that would not have been accomplished with quantitative data alone. The group discussions generated important insights into values and motivations that affect consumers' decisions to adopt a product or behavior. The focus group results guided the development of a social marketing program to promote physical activity in the target audience in Sumter County, South Carolina.  (+info)

A blended knowledge translation initiative to improve colorectal cancer staging [ISRCTN56824239]. (64/352)

BACKGROUND: A significant gap has been documented between best practice and the actual practice of surgery. Our group identified that colorectal cancer staging in Ontario was suboptimal and subsequently developed a knowledge translation strategy using the principles of social marketing and the influence of expert and local opinion leaders for colorectal cancer. METHODS/DESIGN: Opinion leaders were identified using the Hiss methodology. Hospitals in Ontario were cluster-randomized to one of two intervention arms. Both groups were exposed to a formal continuing medical education session given by the expert opinion leader for colorectal cancer. In the treatment group the local Opinion Leader for colorectal cancer was detailed by the expert opinion leader for colorectal cancer and received a toolkit. Forty-two centres agreed to have the expert opinion leader for colorectal cancer come and give a formal continuing medical education session that lasted between 50 minutes and 4 hours. No centres refused the intervention. These sessions were generally well attended by most surgeons, pathologists and other health care professionals at each centre. In addition all but one of the local opinion leaders for colorectal cancer met with the expert opinion leader for colorectal cancer for the academic detailing session that lasted between 15 and 30 minutes. DISCUSSION: We have enacted a unique study that has attempted to induce practice change among surgeons and pathologists using an adapted social marketing model that utilized the influence of both expert and local opinion leaders for colorectal cancer in a large geographic area with diverse practice settings.  (+info)