Developing a culturally appropriate tobacco control project with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community — Agentur Pty Ltd
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Developing a culturally appropriate tobacco control project with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community (99)

Natasha McEwan 1 , Wendy Roberts 1 , Sinead McElduff 1 , Ray Minniecon 2 , Karen Beetson 3 , Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern 4 , Elizabeth Millen 1
  1. South Western Sydney Local Health District, Narellan, NSW, Australia
  2. Babana Aboriginal Men's Group, Sydney
  3. Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation, Airds
  4. Aboriginal Medical Service Redfern, Sydney

Background:

Community ownership and flexibility of tobacco control interventions have been recognised as vital to enable communities to develop initiatives appropriate to their needs (Urbis Report, 2008). This paper reports on how three Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations working with a mainstream health service in Sydney developed a culturally appropriate social marketing campaign for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.

Methods:

A steering committee with representatives from each partner organisation has overseen all aspects of project development, implementation and evaluation. Extensive formative research was undertaken with the Aboriginal community, resulting in a comprehensive campaign comprising advertising via billboards, buses, radio, newspaper, magazines and website; and community engagement through attendance at community events, small grant schemes and quit groups

The advertising component has been guided by community members who informed the theme and message development via focus testing. The three-phase advertising campaign used local faces, and a dedicated website features images and videos of local people sharing personal quit stories and messages from their family members.

Results/Discussions:

Fifty two people participated in a mid-term process evaluation of the advertising component. There was poor recall of the project name, but high recall of the images and messages. Participants reported that they related to the ads and that they were believable.

Anecdotal feedback from partner organisations suggests the process of campaign development has led to a sense of community ownership of the project. There has been active participation in community-based activities including quit groups, community events, community grants, the project website and Facebook pages.

Conclusions/implications:

High levels of community interest and engagement highlight the importance of working alongside Aboriginal services and involving community members in the development of the project. The project has facilitated positive and ongoing working relationships between services. Final project evaluation will be undertaken in 2015.

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