The truth is that most Kane County youth don’t smoke. In fact, only a small percentage do. But because the worst-case stories are the ones most often repeated, there is sometimes a perception that smoking is more popular or trendy than it really is.

Now, the Kane County Health Department is embarking on several projects aimed at encouraging people to quit smoking and debunking some of the myths that go along with tobacco use.

Kane County Health Department is accepting grant applications for three grant opportunities, all focused on tobacco cessation and prevention. Schools, clinics and other social agencies are encouraged to apply. Awards range from $1,000 to $7,000.

• The first grant is available to a clinic that can complete a quality improvement project around smoking cessation. These projects have been recognized by the National Association for County and City Health Officers and more information about Quality Improvement efforts can be found by visiting the Kane County Health Department website.
• The second is for a Social Norms Marketing Campaign within a school. The goal of the marketing campaign is to prove to Kane County youth that the majority of youth do not smoke.
  
• The third grant opportunity is for schools and organizations that are willing to work with youth to implement a policy to reduce tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke in the community.
  • In 2015, Kane County Elgin and St. Charles youth groups were able to successfully pass smoke-free parks policies for Elgin and St. Charles Parks!

Grants are due electronically to Alexis Slivka slivkaalexis@co.kane.il.us by 3 p.m. Sept. 1. For more information, call (630) 264-7670. For a grant application and to learn more about the Health Department’s tobacco program, please visit the Kane County Health Department website.

The following are the requests for proposal for these grant opportunities. Some excerpts are provided below.

RFP: Clinic-Based Smoking Cessation Quality Improvement Project to be conducted September 2015 to June 2016

RFP:  REALITY KANE Teen Advisory Panel (TAP) September 15, 2015 to June 30, 2016

RFP:  Social Norms Marketing Campaign September 15, 2015-June 30, 2016

 

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL for Social Norms Marketing Campaign

Kane County Health Department is seeking proposals for a Social Norms Marketing Campaign. The Social Norms Marketing Campaign is part of the Illinois Tobacco Free Communities grant that integrates youth as actively engaged participants in identifying and addressing high rates of tobacco use. Involvement of well-prepared youth can lead to important policy and social norm changes.

Through the Social Norms Marketing Campaign, students will strengthen community based tobacco prevention efforts among the youth of Kane County. The participating students will review tobacco norms amongst students, decide the best course of action in addressing these norms, and create a marketing campaign that will be displayed throughout their school. Initial social norms of tobacco use in the school will be identified through a pre-survey. Once the tobacco norms have been identified and the marketing campaign has been created and released, a post-survey will be distributed to identify any perceived changes in social norms. Our goal is to prove to Kane County youth, that the majority of youth do not smoke!

Three $1,000 school stipends to cover travel, staff, and meeting supply expenses, are available during the period of September 15, 2015 to June 30, 2016 to Kane County middle and/or high schools that complete all deliverables.

All campaign materials will be produced by the Kane County Health Department but designed by the student workgroup (banner, poster, video, etc.). KCHD will be available for any technical assistance needed.

All vendors are required to have an up-to-date vendor packet on file with Kane County prior to payment.

THEORY

The theory behind the approach states that much of people’s behavior is influenced by their perceptions of how other members of their social group behave (i.e. young adults are more likely to drink alcohol if they think most young adults drink). When applied to teen substance abuse prevention, Social Norms Marketing Campaigns are based on the following principles:

• Most teens think most of their peers use alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs (ATOD), when in fact, most do not.
• Most teens make decisions and act based on how they believe the majority of the peers behave; therefore, the misperception that most teens use ATOD is leading to higher rates of use.
• When facts, such as, “Most teens choose not to use ATOD,” are provided to youth, they are more likely to choose not to use those substances in order to conform to the actual norm.

MISPERCEPTIONS

When planning a Social Norms Marketing Campaign it is also important to consider the effect misperceptions have on the target population:

• Typifying substance using behavior as indicative of a person’s common behavior (even if only observed once)
• Fostering the belief that the unusual or vivid substance using behavior is more common than it is,
• Sensationalizing and glamorizing the substance using behavior

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL: Smoking Cessation Quality Improvement Project

Request for Proposal: Quality Improvement Project focused on improving smoking cessation rates in a medical facility serving low-income patients. Focus will be on using evidence based interventions to treat tobacco use and dependence for at-risk populations

OVERVIEW

Tobacco use is considered a top risk factor for premature mortality in Kane County. Efforts are underway to keep youth from initiating smoking, protect all people from second hand smoke, and to help smokers overcome their addiction to tobacco.

There has been a significant decrease in smoking rates in Kane County over the past decade. In fact, the current rate for the adult population is 13.6%, well below the national average of 17.8%. In spite of that positive data, there are still specific populations that are more likely to smoke and suffer the consequences of tobacco addiction. For example, residents in Kane County with low socio-economic status are more than twice as likely to smoke compared to the general population. This RFP seeks to identify agencies that provide clinical services and are willing to work in partnership to:

• Participate in a formal quality improvement project using the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) process to effectively implement strategies to increase smoking cessation rates among clients

This improvement process will begin in September of 2015 and continue through June 2016. Grant funding of $7,000 will be made available to an approved site. Determination of funding will be weighted based on geographic area served, volume of clients served, risk-factors of clients served and active participation in previous Kane County led quality improvement projects.

BACKGROUND

As stated in the Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians: Effective treatments for tobacco dependence now exist, and every patient should receive at least minimal treatment every time he or she visits a clinician. The first step in this process—identification and assessment of tobacco use status—separates patients into three treatment categories:

1. Patients who use tobacco and are willing to quit should be treated using the “5 A’s” (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange).
2. Patients who use tobacco but are unwilling to quit at this time should be treated with the “5 R’s” motivational intervention (Relevance, Risks, Rewards, Roadblocks, and Repetition).
3. Patients who have recently quit using tobacco should be provided relapse prevention treatment.

The purpose of this improvement project is to identify and begin to address the specific opportunities and barriers within clinical settings where at-risk clients are served in Kane County. This information will guide future efforts to facilitate these organizations’ ability to successfully implement the steps above and create an environment that supports tobacco use cessation.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL for REALITY Kane Teen Advisory Panel (TAP)

Kane County Health Department is seeking proposals for Teen Advisory Panel (TAP) for the tobacco REALITY program. The REALITY Illinois program integrates youth as actively engaged participants in tobacco control policy development and adoption. Involvement of well-prepared youth can lead to important policy and social norm changes. REALITY Illinois teens seeks to directly impact tobacco control policies by working locally on issues such as reducing exposure to second-hand smoke and protecting the environment from tobacco litter.

Through the Reality Kane program, Teen Advisory Panels (TAP) will strengthen community based tobacco prevention efforts among the youth of Kane County. The TAP will conduct planning, implementation, and evaluation activities to support a community-wide policy initiative following the best practices for engaging youth in tobacco prevention and control. Reality TAP will assess the nature of the problem by implementing the Engaging Youth for Positive Change (EYPC) model and using the activities to identify the issue. Youth will be trained and involved in:

• Assessing and mobilizing community support for a selected policy initiative
• Advocating for the policy initiative through communications with government officials and  community leaders
• Utilizing media to advance the selected policy initiative
• Exposing tobacco industry tactics
• Mobilizing peers in opposition to pro-tobacco influences.

Our 2015 Reality groups, Bridging the Gap of Aurora Operation Snowball, STC Underground Teen Center, and Youth Leadership Academy, found success in their communities while advocating for smoke-free spaces. Bridging the Gap of Aurora Operation Snowball gained traction to strengthen school policy regarding electronic cigarettes. The Youth Leadership Academy successfully passed a smoke-free parks policy for Elgin. Lastly, STC Underground Teen Center passed a smoke-free parks policy for St. Charles. Reality teen members gained leadership skills, and learned that they have the power to influence community leaders.

Two $3,500.00 grant awards are available during the period of September 15, 2015 to June 30, 2016. An initial payment of $500 will be made upon signing of the contract. To be eligible for a REALITY award, all applicants must demonstrate that their program or intervention has, at minimum, preliminary evidence of effectiveness in their application. To help support each awardee to reach their goal, payments of $1,000 (up to $3,000) will be made based upon completion of predetermined deliverables to date in May, 2016. Deliverables include completion of a tobacco assessment, proposal of a smoke-free or tobacco-free policy to a group of community stakeholders (city council, park district board, school board, etc.), and work towards or adoption of a tobacco policy. Additionally, commitment to evaluation is a key competent of the REALITY program and is an expectation of all subgrantees. As such, all REALITY subgrantees will be required to participate in an evaluation process designed and led by Kane County Health Department evaluators.