Introduction
The US authorities pay much attention to addressing the health issues with the help of developing such national programs as Healthy People. One of the important issues presented in the program is the problem of tobacco use in the United States. To respond to this issue, the authorities determined a list of objectives according to which the program is realized and implemented in society. These objectives are the reduction of tobacco use among adults and adolescents, the focus on stimulating smoking cessation among adults, and the development of tobacco-free environments and effective tobacco control programs (HealthyPeople.gov, 2014). However, the success in achieving the program’s objectives depends significantly on the authorities and public’s activities in the concrete community. That is why to respond to the program’s effective realization, it is important to discuss the particular features of the target population in the definite community of Wisconsin; to focus on the community-based response to the issue of smoking, and to describe the role of the economic factors and social marketing in addressing the issue of tobacco use in the community.
Although the national programs state the objectives for the whole American population, the realization of the programs depends on the effectiveness of the various state policies and communities’ differences. Thus, different agencies are responsible for the program’s realization at the national, state, and local levels. To collect and analyze the necessary information on the demographic statistics and the role of the issue in the community, different agencies use a variety of epidemiologic tools and surveillance systems. From this point, the aspects of the community’s response to the issue of tobacco use in Wisconsin can be analyzed with references to the general state data and to the concrete situation in the community of Racine, Wisconsin, where the relatively high percentage of the adult population is at risk to develop the smoking habits (Redmond, 2010, p. 72; Rooney, Choudhary, & Bliss, 2009, p. 440).
The Target Population at the National and State Levels
To understand the country’s trends in responding to the reduction of tobacco use, it is necessary to discuss the features of the target population at different levels. According to the national data, the target population associated with tobacco use in the United States includes Asian, Caucasian, and African American males aged 18 years and older who belong to the middle and low-income categories (CDC, 2014). However, the definition of the target population can be different depending on the state and local features. Thus, in Wisconsin, more than 20% of tobacco users are African American and Hispanic males and females aged 20-30 years, and their education level is less than the High School (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2013). From this point, the obvious differences are observed about the tobacco users’ race and ethnicity.
Differences in the Target Population’s Incidence, Prevalence, and Mortality Levels
According to the data of national and state surveys, different categories of the male and female American population can be discussed as the target population because of having the smoking habit or interacting with smokers regularly. According to the data of the 2009–2010 National Adult Tobacco Survey (NATS), the national prevalence related to the current tobacco use in the country is 25.2%. While focusing on cigarette smoking, the general prevalence is 19.5%. Furthermore, tobacco use and smoking habits are popular with the young non-Hispanic male population who represent 32.2% of the American population about any tobacco use and 22.3% about smoking cigarettes (King, Dube, & Tynan, 2012, p. e95). Thus, “findings from NATS indicate that approximately 1 in 4 US adults was a current tobacco user during 2009-2010” (King, Dube, & Tynan, 2012, p. e95). These findings are discussed today as the recent data on the issue of tobacco use in the United States (Fiore, Hatsukami, & Baker, 2002, p. 1769).
While referring to the situation in Wisconsin and Racine as the certain small community, it is important to note that 20% of adults in Wisconsin and 26% of adults in the City of Racine use tobacco while smoking cigarettes. The differences among the number of smoking adult men and women are not as significant as it is stated according to the national survey. According to the survey 2011, the smoking adults in Wisconsin are 20% of females and 22% of males. The survey indicates the increase in numbers related to the female population in comparison with the NATS results of 2010 (City of Racine, 2011; King, Dube, & Tynan, 2012, p. e95; Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2013).
The examination of the mortality levels related to tobacco use is necessary to present the complete picture of the issue’s spread in the country. More than 20% of Americans die from tobacco-related diseases such as heart disease, definite types of cancer, respiratory diseases, and diabetes each year (CDC, 2014). In Wisconsin, more than 10,000 residents die from heart diseases and heart strokes, asthma, and lung cancer each year (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2013).
The Community-Based Response to the Issue of Tobacco Use
To respond to the problem of tobacco use in Wisconsin, the state authorities developed a range of programs to address such local objectives as the decrease in the number of adult smokers and the decrease in the number of non-smoking persons affected by other people’s tobacco use. To meet the needs of different demographic subgroups, the Wisconsin Tobacco Prevention and Control program and Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure Policy were developed to support the state banning policies (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2013). In Racine, the Tobacco-Free Parks and Beaches initiative is supported, and the community follows the policies developed at the state level (City of Racine, 2011). To control the changes in the health situation in the city, the authorities use the needs assessments.
The Institutional and Community Leadership Roles in Responding to the Targeted Health Objectives
The impact of the institutional and community leadership activities and roles on overcoming the tobacco use issue in Wisconsin is rather equal because of the observed distribution of duties and responsibilities. The state agencies in Wisconsin are responsible for controlling the realization of the national programs and state programs. To reduce the number of non-smokers suffering from other people’s tobacco use, the state authorities developed the Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure Policy according to which smoking in the workplaces and public places was banned or prohibited (Smith et al., 2010, p. 491; Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2013). Responding to this state’s initiative, the authorities in Racine proposed the Tobacco-Free Parks and Beaches initiative to promote the ideals of a healthy lifestyle among the public. Furthermore, the community supported the Kenosha*Racine*Walworth (K*R*W) Tri-County Tobacco-Free Coalition to reduce the percentage of tobacco users among the population of the City of Racine (City of Racine, 2011). As a result, it is possible to note that the institutional and community leadership roles are distributed effectively to decrease the number of smokers in Racine and the whole state.
Economic Factors and Funding Intervention Strategies
To improve the results associated with the tobacco use control programs and strategies, Wisconsin increased funding for all the aspects of the general smoking control programs and the Tobacco Use and Secondhand Smoke Exposure Policy in 2011 because the reduction in funding in 2009 influenced the achievement of the program’s objectives negatively (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2013). Even though the state authorities pay much attention to the funding intervention strategies and to the role of the economic factor in reducing the numbers of smokers and improving the smoking cessation approaches, the proposed financial resources are not enough to realize the programs adequately and effectively.
Although the issue of tobacco use in Wisconsin costs more than $4 billion annually due to the costs associated with the health care procedures and changes in the employees’ productivity, the state spends only $6 million annually to respond to the issue of tobacco use (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2013). The community in Racine also suffers from the lack of financing because of the drawbacks in the system of state funding.
The Role of Social Marketing in Promoting Public Health
The role of social marketing in the promotion of public health is significant because to realize the set national and state health objectives effectively, it is necessary to attract the public’s attention to the issue and to persuade the target population to reduce smoking, focus on smoking cessation, and to follow the banning policies strictly (Fos et al., 2012, p. 119). To respond to these goals, it is important to propose strategies that can evoke the public’s emotions and draw their attention to the controversial questions (Novick, Morrow, & Mays, 2008, p. 24). As a result, the authorities of Wisconsin pay much attention to the research and promotion to address the needs of the different categories of smokers and of those persons who suffer from secondhand exposure.
One of the most effective approaches used in social marketing is the focus on media campaigns as the effective method to promote the principles of a healthy lifestyle among the public. Wisconsin develops such campaigns as the “Wisconsin is Better Smoke-Free” campaign and the “Everybody Smokes When Anybody Smokes” campaign (Wisconsin Department of Health Services, 2013). In Racine, the social marketing approaches work while concentrating on the public presentation of the research results and community programs’ benefits (City of Racine, 2011).
Conclusion
The spread of the smoking habits and behaviors associated with tobacco use is a national health issue in the United States which is typical for each state. Even though different states and communities choose to follow various programs developed to respond to the issue of tobacco use, all the communities develop the policies and programs and implement their strategies referring to the national objectives stated in the Healthy People 2020 program. The differences in the programs’ effectiveness and realization depend on the differences in the communities’ features. Thus, to achieve the set national objectives appropriately, the particular features of the Wisconsin target population should be taken into account. Furthermore, the adequate realization of the program in communities depends on the response to their specific characteristics, as it is relevant for the case of the City of Racine, Wisconsin.
References
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