The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Office on Smoking and Health has published a new Best Practices User Guide: Health Communications in Tobacco Prevention and Control. The guide was written in partnership with the Center for Public Health Systems Science at Washington University in St. Louis.
This user guide focuses on the critical role of health communications in achieving and sustaining tobacco prevention and control goals. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs—2014 recommends mass-reach health communication interventions as “powerful tools for preventing the initiation of tobacco use, promoting and facilitating cessation, and shaping social norms related to tobacco use.”
Health communications help programs reach large audiences to build support for tobacco control and counter the tobacco industry’s extensive advertising and promotion. As people increasingly use the internet for health information, new opportunities are emerging for health communications to get the attention of the public. This user guide gives program staff and partners information on how to develop and implement effective communications.
The Best Practices User Guide: Health Communications in Tobacco Prevention and Control can help you:
- Develop and implement health communications for paid, earned, and social media, as well as other program communications that support tobacco control efforts.
- Learn from real-world examples of health communications in tobacco control.
- Make the case for investing in effective health communications.
- Identify the best resources and tools to help in health communications planning efforts.
The online version of the guide is available on CDC’s website.