The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Office on Smoking and Health has published a new supplement to the Best Practices User Guides, Tobacco Where You Live: Native Communities. The document was written in partnership with the Center for Public Health Systems Science at Washington University in St. Louis. The Tobacco Where You Live supplements empower state and local programs to understand how commercial tobacco use varies within their communities and take action to reduce tobacco use in communities with the highest prevalence.
American Indians and Alaska Natives have the highest commercial tobacco use of all U.S. racial and ethnic groups. Strategies leading to declines in commercial tobacco use overall have not worked for or been equitably implemented in Native communities. Finding more effective ways to reduce commercial tobacco use among Native populations can help narrow these disparities. The Native Communities supplement provides actionable guidance on working with American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities using a culturally focused approach to commercial tobacco use prevention and cessation.
Tobacco Where You Live: Native Communities can help you:
- Develop strong relationships with Native leaders and members;
- Communicate the harms of commercial tobacco and respect the use of traditional tobacco;
- Work with tribes to tailor strategies to reflect their unique cultures, capacities, and challenges; and
- Learn from real‐world examples of commercial tobacco prevention and control work in Native communities.
The online version of this guide is available on CDC’s website.