Jennifer Cofer, director of the EndTobacco™ Program at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, recently led a session titled “A Framework for Institutions of Higher Education to Eliminate Tobacco Use” at the 2022 Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education (NASPA) Annual Conference. This presentation focused on the potential reach and impact institutions have on their students related to tobacco-free activities, evidence-based intervention strategies to prevent tobacco use initiation, increase cessation attempts and share how attendees can use Eliminate Tobacco Use’s (ETU) resources to promote a tobacco-free culture on their campus.
Jennifer discussed how ETU’s three, evidence-based domains of policy, prevention and cessation interact with the program’s four audience groups: faculty, staff, students and patients in the community served. She also discussed ETU’s extensive scope of work, which includes five core competencies:
- Summits. Stakeholders from around the country convene annually to discuss and share best practices and research.
- Health communication support. Printed and digital media tools, as well as communication consultation, is available to partners to ensure effective, consistent messaging.
- Reports. Highlight best practices, progress, annual outcomes, toolkit resources and other reporting formats to promote collaboration and accountability.
- Webinars. ETU leadership hosts quarterly webinars as learning opportunities for stakeholders and interested parties.
- Connection. Involved organizations are part of a learning community among experts and peers to share insights and exchange ideas.
Along with highlighting ETU’s major outcomes from the last six years, Jennifer also showcased some of the online resources immediately available to those who visit the ETU website: impact reports, dashboard progress reports and a variety of toolkits for social media, events and signage.