Webinar: Tobacco Needs Assessments for New Mainer Communities

In the Fall of 2021, the MaineHealth Center for Tobacco Independence (CTI) put out a Request for Funding Proposal for partners across the state who would be interested in assessing tobacco use and exposure of secondhand smoke within Maine’s immigrant communities. The purpose of this initiative was to collect information on beliefs of New Mainer individuals, families, and communities about tobacco, then evaluate it to better inform tobacco prevention and control efforts in Maine. Chosen grantees were encouraged to evaluate a number of social factors that could be impacting these attitudes and beliefs around tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure, including but not limited to culture, gender, healthy behaviors, and access to health services. CTI funded four organizations to pursue this work across Maine: AK Health and Social Services, Healthy Communities of the Capital Area, Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services, and Portland Public Health. During this presentation, each of the four grantees will share how data was collected, they will compare themes, and they will share next steps on how the research will inform future programmatic strategies.

Presenters: April Hughes, MPH, PS-C; Val Johnstone; Abdikadir Negeye, MA,BA, MHRT/C; and Candace Johnson