Minority Initiative Subrecipient Grants Office (MISRGO)
Tobacco Prevention Collaboratives in Arkansas
Tobacco Prevention Collaboratives in Arkansas
Tobacco use in Arkansas is a marketing and medical tsunami, devasting minority youth in Arkansas. Tobacco companies spend over $90 million each year on advertising and marketing in the State. Tobacco kills more people than the other top five killers combined, including alcohol, auto accidents, AIDS, suicides, murders, and illegal drugs.
However, the Arkansas Department of Health and MSRGO are investing in local community groups and agencies to combat this threat to wellness. An empowerment evaluation approach is being used to guide the overall initiative. Empowerment evaluation helps programs accomplish their objectives and remain accountable to the funder. Dr. Fetterman has been retained to direct the evaluation.
Tables - Quick Reference Tool
A table has been created below to provide grantees and other partners with quick access to resources and organizations. A second table, also below, has been created to provide grantees with evaluation tools and resources.
Quick Access to Resources and Organizations
PRIVATE
GROUP FILES
(password)
STANFORD
Reports
PRIVATE GROUP FILES
(password)
STANFORD
Workshops
PRIVATE
GROUP FILES
(password)
STANFORD
Video
Quick Access to Evaluation Tools and Resources
Internet Telephone and Videoconference
Methods
Quantitative
Qualitative
PRIVATE GROUP FILES
(password protected)
February 2005
Progress Report
The Tobacco prevention groups have been working together to leverage resources and focus our efforts. Here are a few examples of our work together, including our first report, workshop training slides, and a video of our empowerment evaluation activities.
1. Minority Initiative Grants' Anti-Tobacco Collaborative: Mission, Taking Stock, and Planning for the Future Report (REPORT1FEB.PDF).
2. The empowerment evaluation workshop slides are available (MINORITYINITIATIVE.PDF.PDF)
Empowerment Evaluation
Minority Initiative Anti-Tobacco Workshop
(Double click on the image to view)
Centers for Disease Control
(The Office on Smoking and Health)
Double click on image to view it.
The Centers for Disease Control, Office on Smoking and Health, invited members of the Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) to explore issues of evaluation and strategic planning on April 1, 2005.
Dr. Fetterman facilitated the meeting with Dr. Blevins. The slide presentation summarizing key aspects of the meeting are available here.
This meeting was strategic in the development of the grant and evaluation. We established a collaborative team composed of: CDC, Arkansas Department of Health, Rand Corporation, the Minority Initiative Sub-Recipient Grant Office, and various technical assistance groups. represented by Debra Morris, Linda Delaney, and David Fetterman. The Gallup Organization is now part of this team.
The CDC made one pivotal recommendation that is being pursued at this time:
• Create an Evaluation Resource Center (to build evaluation capacity in Arkansas)
The CDC, MSRGO, and Dr. Fetterman are taking steps to explore this recommendation and propose a plan for the development of a center to enhance community-based evaluation in Arkansas.
In addition to these efforts, each grantee has agreed to share critical information to better track processes and outcomes as we work together to reduce tobacco consumption.
June 2005 Empowerment Evaluation Workshop
The June 2005 Empowerment Evaluation Workshop at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, reviewed past work, provided evaluation technical assistance, provided quantitative methods training, and established a 2nd data point - providing the group with a snapshot of the status of the entire effort (across programs). The slides for the June 2005 workshop are available at this site.
Grantees helping to collect and analyze the
evaluation data during the June 2005 workshop
In addition, the grantees compared their February 2005 ratings (or assessment of their status at the time) with their June 2005 ratings or assessment of the status of their activities as a group. This enabled the group to track the status of their activities over time - to build on their strengths and work on areas meriting attention and improvement.
Computer screen snapshot of June 2005 ratings during workshop
The dialogue about the ratings was insightful and productive. It built a culture of evidence (as grantees documented the basis for their ratings) and lead to grantees sharing both implementation and evaluation tools with each other.
Grantee discussing ways to evaluate the use of media
to combat the use of tobacco
The June 2005 status report is available on this site for review. In addition a brief video recording of some of our June 2005 activities is available below.
Double click on image to view video
This story continues to unfold. However, the story continues on our