Educating The Native Population on Commercial Tobacco use and The Development of a Tobacco Cessation Program.

Abstract

Commercial tobacco use is a major health issue within the American Indian (AI) community. It is estimated that as of 2021, 21% of the adult AI population and 7.5% of the youth AI population are smokers. Through my work as the Program Director for Tobacco Prevention at my APE site at Sherwood Valley Band of Pomo Indians, we tackled this issue head on through community outreach, education, data collection, and policy development. During my experience at the site, I addressed the health issue by conducting public intercept surveys, consumer testing, litter observation surveys, and through assessing community needs through the completion of a Midwest Academy Strategy Chart. The data gathered from these methods show that not only is there a commercial tobacco use issue within the community but that there is also a lack of support for our program from the community. The work that is being accomplished at this site will eventually lead to major health and quality of life improvements through the implementation of a no smoking policy within the community’s parks, creeks, and recreational areas.