Development and Preliminary Outcomes of Tobacco Policy Initiatives in Pennsylvania

Audience: The Pennsylvania Tobacco Prevention and Control Program (PA TPC) has made great strides in State Fiscal Year 2011-2012 to align with Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s emphasis on policy and systems change in the area of tobacco prevention. In particular, two organizational policy initiatives were created and implemented to increase the number of comprehensive tobacco policies in schools and workplaces throughout Pennsylvania.

Key Points: PA TPC shifted the focus of its school-based programming from direct prevention education for students and faculty to working with school districts to implement and enforce strong tobacco policies through the development of the School Tobacco Policy Initiative. The Pennsylvania Alliance to Control Tobacco (PACT), in collaboration with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, has developed a Worksite Tobacco Policy Initiative to promote comprehensive tobacco free policies in Pennsylvania worksites. 

Educational Experience: This presentation will detail efforts of Regional Primary Contractors in improving school and worksite policies and will discuss how changes in policy are measured using school and worksite assessment index tools. Preliminary findings from the first year of the Tobacco Free Schools and Worksite Tobacco Policy Initiatives will be shared, highlighting areas where policies were strong to begin with, areas where improvements were made, and areas in which additional efforts may still be needed.

Benefits: Tobacco free school policies have a sustainable impact on students, faculty and communities, and tobacco free workplace policies not only protect workers from the health dangers of secondhand smoke, but they result in a more efficient work environment.