Passing Tribal Tobacco Control Policies: The Journey and Lessons Learned

Audience: Tribal nations and tobacco control professionals (national, state, and local) who are working on passing tribal tobacco control policies.

Key Points: Passing tribal tobacco control policies is a major step in creating sustainable change to decrease tobacco use in the tribal nations. The process to pass an effective tribal tobacco control policy varies since each tribal nation has its own uniqueness. This poster presentation highlights two success stories in passing tribal tobacco control policies. The first success story illustrates the action steps taken to pass the Osage Nation tobacco-free policy that affects all tribal owned or leased buildings through the Congress. The second success story illustrates the action steps taken to pass the Absentee Shawnee Tribe (AST) tobacco-free policy for the health clinics through the AST board of directors. This poster presentation will end with essential elements identified from the two successes (e.g. champion(s), ownership, and resources) and lessons learned. Key points are created based on the appropriate authors’ practice experience and identified common themes.

Educational Experience: The key points will be presented in  a case study format using a combination of graphics and texts. Handouts will be available for the audience to keep as a reference. Presenter will be available to present key points in person and answer questions.

Benefits: The audience can apply some of the action steps, identified essential elements, and lessons learned into their tribal tobacco control interventions to enhance effectiveness.