Health Promotion International, Vol. 8, No. 2, 69-83, 1993
© Oxford University Press 1993
research-article |
Community mobilization for smoking cessation: lessons learned from COMMIT
Cancer Prevention Research Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington Seattle, WA, USA Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado at Denver Denver, CO, USA School of Social Work, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN, USA School of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo Buffalo, NY, USA
Address for correspondence: Address for correspondence: Beti Thompson Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center 1124 Columbia MP-702 Seattle WA 98104 USA
The Community Intervention Trial for Smoking Cessation (COMMIT) required that 11 different project sites utilize a standard protocol to mobilize their communities for a four-year intervention aimed at smoking cessation. This experience provided a unique opportunity to describe the process and examine several questions about the mobilization components and to assess the effectiveness of a common set of mobilization strategies. Specific questions of interest included: Can one protocol be implemented across communities that differ widely in size, demographic factors, and cultural traditions? Can similar protocol objectives and time frames be met consistently in the diverse communities? Was the required community board structure feasible for all sites? How useful was a standardized protocol for mobilizing communities? It also was possible to describe the effects on mobilization of the structural requirements imposed by the research design and protocol, the National Cancer Institute, and the research institutions.
Sixteen months of initial mobilization activity were reviewed. A variety of trial documents, produced by project staff and volunteers, were supplemented with visits to selected sites where interviews were conducted with community volunteers involved in the project. The authors prepared independent summary reports of the data and visits to sites and these were used in consensus-building meetings to describe the mobilization activities within the sites.
Despite a short time frame, trial-wide mobilization goals were eventually met by all sites. The common protocol was effective across the diverse sites, and local project staff and volunteers had good experience in using the protocol as the basic framework for their planning and activities. Progress in meeting mobilization objectives and timelines varied across sites, but did not appear to be dependent on factors of community size, ethnic mix, urbanization, area of the country, or competing external conditions. While the formal structure required by the project produced some tension and conflict, the basic partnership approach of the COMMIT study was affirmed. Enthusiasm for the project appeared high across sites.
Despite a short time frame, trial-wide mobilization goals were eventually met by all sites. The common protocol was effective across the diverse sites, and local project staff and volunteers had good experience in using the protocol as the basic framework for their planning and activities. Progress in meeting mobilization objectives and timelines varied across sites, but did not appear to be dependent on factors of community size, ethnic mix, urbanization, area of the country, or competing external conditions. While the formal structure required by the project produced some tension and conflict, the basic partnership approach of the COMMIT study was affirmed. Enthusiasm for the project appeared high across sites.
Key words: community; community mobilization; smoking cessation
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