Problem

“Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). “Smoking kills more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, murders, and suicides combined. ”

Tobacco Prevention: Minority Sub-Recipient Research Grant Office (MISRGO)

MISRGO’s has been leading the challenge of addressing minority tobacco use in Arkansas for over a decade. This report describes the MISRGO and grantee evaluation and monitoring efforts for the year within a pandemic social distancing context.

CDC Guidelines

MISRGO goals and activities are aligned with CDC intervention areas, including:

Eliminate Exposure to Secondhand Smoke

Preventing Initiation Among Youth and Young Adults

Promoting Quitting Among Youth and Adults

Addressing Disparities

Empowerment Evaluation

Empowerment evaluation is being used to guide MISRGO and grantee evaluation of their performance. This included a 3-step approach (mission, taking stock, and planning for the future) and the use of evaluation dashboards (comparing actual performance with milestones and goals). MISRGO and grantee goals and activities are measurable and monitored on a quarterly basis, to allow for mid-course corrections as needed. (See Fetterman, Kaftarian, and Wandersman, 2015.)

Reporting: Canva

Marshall McLuhan said: "the medium is the message". We are using Canva software to format our findings and share them in a professional and pleasing manner. The software produces a first-rate document, with text boxes, modern graphics, and accessible fonts.

More to the point it can produce a PDF or a music video format to enhance the likelihood that it will be read and used. An example is provided on the left to provide an illustration of how powerful this software is without the steep learning curve associated with other professional software programs, including Adobe Illustrator.

Ultimately, this software helped to increase knowledge utilization because the report produced is more likely to be read, viewed, and listened to in a timely manner.