Coalition Cohesiveness in Tobacco Growing Communities

Audience:

Tobacco control advocates and researchers

Key Points:

Promoting smoke-free coalition cohesiveness in a tobacco growing community introduces unique challenges. Tobacco control advocates from 40 tobacco-growing Kentucky communities were interviewed by telephone as part of the final wave of a 5-year longitudinal study of community readiness for smoke-free policy.  On average, five health advocates per county participated in the 45-minute interview. One open-ended question assessed potentially divisive issues within their coalition. They also were asked to rate coalition cohesiveness (not at all cohesive, somewhat cohesive, or very cohesive).

Themes ranged from rights issues (individual, business owner, personal property), member characteristics (overzealous, lack of knowledge), type of law (restaurant only vs. all workplaces), and whether or not to allow certain exemptions (i.e., bingo halls, bars). At least two of the divisive concerns were significantly associated with their ranking of coalition cohesiveness. Of those who indicated a “very cohesive” coalition, 6.5% indicated that raising tobacco in the community was a divisive concern compared to 15.6% who indicated their coalition was not at all or somewhat cohesive (χ²=3.9, p=.05). Of those who indicated a “very cohesive” coalition, only 2.2% indicated that smoke-free would adversely affect the economy, compared to 11.1% who indicated their coalition was less cohesive (χ²=6.0, p=.01). Educating coalition members on the economics of smoke-free laws and the actual economic impact on tobacco-growing will promote coalition cohesiveness.

Educational Experience:

Poster or powerpoint presentation.

Benefits:

Understanding the obstacles could help coalitions identify solutions for promoting and maintaining coalition cohesiveness.