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P002: Public Health Division

P002: Number of high school youth trained in the Evolvement youth engagement program to implement tobacco projects in their school/community

Current Value

402

2018

Definition

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Story Behind the Curve

  • Youth cigarette smoking is at a historic low in New Mexico (11.4%), comparable to the national youth smoking rate (10.8%).
  • Reducing smoking among youth is important because it is the leading cause of preventable death, and 90% of adult smokers start before age 18.
  • The total number of youth trained in FY17 was 356, and the target for FY18 is 350 youth.
  • In FY18 Q4, 182 youth were trained in the Evolvement youth engagement program, bringing the total for FY18 to 402 trained youth, exceeding the target of 350 youth.
  • The successes in Q4 come from youth being trained to apply their skills in support of projects within two campaigns: 24/7 Tobacco-Free Schools and No Minor Sale, which works to preventing Illegal tobacco sales to youth. In addition, some youth received more in-depth one-on-one training to support tobacco-free policy efforts in several school districts that were actively working on updating their policies during Q4.
  • Significant school recruitment efforts took place in Q4, with a total of 17 new applications for the 2018-2019 school year, 14 finalist school phone calls with top applicants, and 7 school districts selected and confirmed for FY19. School recruitment and acceptance have been focused on achieving geographic diversity and a strong footprint across the state to ensure that there is statewide reach for the 24/7 and No Minor Sale campaigns.

Partners

  • Rescue (The Behavior Change Agency)
  • New Mexico School Districts
  • New Mexico Public Education Department
  • Community-based Organizations
  • New Mexico Department of Health – Health promotion teams

What Works

The Guide to Community Preventive Services recommends the following interventions to reduce adolescent smoking:

  • Increasing the unit price of tobacco products.
  • Mass media campaigns in combination with other interventions (e.g., youth engagement).
  • Smoking bans and restrictions.
  • Restricting minors' access to tobacco products through community mobilization with additional interventions.

Strategy

  • The program will implement a statewide youth engagement strategy (Evolvement), in combination with specific tobacco counter-marketing campaigns targeting high school youth.
  • Youth leaders statewide will be trained on tobacco control efforts, develop tobacco control projects within their schools and communities, and assist in the development of culturally-appropriate campaigns that will reach their peers.

Action Plan

  • Q1: Plan and recruit schools and youth into the Evolvement youth engagement program. Completed.
  • Q2: Training 75 youth leaders. 208 youth trained. Exceeded.
  • Q3: Training 75 youth leaders. Completed - 12 youth leaders were trained during FY18 Q3, bringing the number trained year-to-date to 220.
  • Q4: Train 150 youth leaders. Completed - 182 youth trained, 402 total for FY18, exceeding target of 350 youth trained.

FY18 Annual Progress Summary

The NMDOH Tobacco Use Prevention and Control Program and Rescue, which oversees Evolvement program activities, were successful in recruitment, technical assistance, training, and follow-up efforts in FY18. In fact, efforts resulted in a total of 402 youth trained, exceeding the annual target of 350. Ten high schools from across New Mexico participated in the Evolvement Program, with youth completing a variety of local youth tobacco use prevention and engagement projects in their schools and communities. Four new school districts (Roswell, Pecos, Las Cruces, and Central) enacted 100% tobacco-free policies across their campuses in FY18, protecting thousands of youth, staff, parents, and visitors from the harms of secondhand smoke.

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