Summary
The Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University and the First Nations Health Authority are working in partnership to conduct a 3-year project (2017-2020) aimed at strengthening commercial tobacco control in Aboriginal communities. This will be achieved by carrying out a consultation intervention in BC First Nations communities. Unlike conventional approaches, which introduce pre-selected interventions into target populations, a consultation intervention seeks information and generates optimal solutions to perceived problems or issues through interactive problem solving with the community. The project will test the approach of community-led consultation and produce a comprehensive Menu of Tobacco Control Measures Available to Aboriginal Communities.
Background
While adult (15+) smoking prevalence in Canada has steadily declined, from 35% in the mid 1980s to 16.1% by 2012, smoking prevalence among Aboriginal peoples is about triple the Canadian average. Evidence shows that the lack of community-level collaboration, context-specific measures and comprehensive (supply and demand side) approaches have hindered effective tobacco control among Aboriginal Canadians. Conventional approaches have typically involved the introduction of selected measures, notably cessation programs, by external experts based on implementation in non Aboriginal communities.
Purpose and Objectives
The purpose of this project is to address critical knowledge gaps faced by communities, tobacco control researchers, and public health practitioners seeking to reduce the harms from tobacco use. The objectives of the study are to:
1) negotiate, design, conduct and evaluate a consultation intervention for engaging Aboriginal communities in tobacco control efforts;
2) survey and map tobacco use and needs in BC FN study communities;
3) generate new understandings of contextual factors (cultural structural and social) related to tobacco in study communities;
4) synthesise evidence and best practices on tobacco control in Aboriginal communities in Canada and globally;
5) collaborate with study communities on creation of menu of demand- and supply-side tobacco control measures, and:
6) draw and share lessons with knowledge users for strengthening tobacco control through consultation with Aboriginal communities.
Planned Outcomes
The key outcomes of this project will be: (a) development and evaluation of a process (consultation intervention) for enabling Aboriginal communities to identify their own tobacco control needs and priorities; and (b) a comprehensive menu of tobacco control measures from which Aboriginal communities can adapt to their own contexts.
For information about the project please contact
Tim Michel, Project Coordinator
PILAR Tobacco Project
Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Blusson Hall, BLU 11826, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC
V5A 1S6 | web: www.fhs.sfu.caPhone: 778-782-5783
Email: tmichel@sfu.ca