Smoke-free Policy Implementation Effectiveness

Audience:

Tobacco control advocates, policymakers, and researchers

Key Points:

Best practices for smoke-free policy adoption are well described, but effective policy implementation is a frequently ignored element of the policy process. There is no standard method for measuring policy implementation effectiveness. The Community Readiness Model (CRM) and Institutional Analysis and Development Framework (IAD) combined show promise in predicting policy implementation effectiveness.

The purpose is to: (1) describe a combined model to guide smoke-free policy implementation effectiveness; and (2) analyze data from a pilot study to develop and test a policy implementation assessment tool in a rural and urban community, both with comprehensive smoke-free laws. In two smoke-free communities, we randomly selected 5 restaurants and 5 bars from the health department list of all eating and drinking venues.

The sample included observations and air quality data for each of the 20 venues. A total of 20 key informants also participated in an online survey (38% response rate), including smoke-free advocates, policymakers, and business owners/managers.

Participants from the urban community with a more established law had lower implementation scores for workplaces, compliance, and social norms, compared to the rural community with a more recent law. Compared to rural venues, urban ones had higher average PM_2.5 levels (54 µg/m³ vs. 16 µg/m³ respectively). Since the implementation endpoints derived from the online surveys and community observations were consistent with the air quality findings, convergent validity of the assessment tool is strong.

Educational Experience:

Interactive poster or powerpoint presentation.

Benefits:

The tool could be used to monitor policy implementation effectiveness