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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
Office on Smoking and Health
Tel: 1-800-CDC-INFO
(1-800-232-4636)
TTY: 1-888-232-6348
E-mail: tobaccoinfo@cdc.gov
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Case Studies
Strategic Planning Process to Address Tobacco-Related
Disparities in Wisconsin
Lessons Learned
What were the
important elements to the intervention's success?
- Recruitment of organizations and agencies
representing populations with potential
disparities
- Hiring of experienced facilitator who was
able to maintain a high level of involvement and
cohesiveness
- Creation of an egalitarian and inclusive
process for the Workgroup which resulted in
consensus decision making
- Organization of data relevant to tobacco
disparities prior to Workgroup meetings
Describe the
policy and/or program interventions
applicability/replicability to other sites, and
include recommendations for other sites.
Wisconsin's strategic
planning process can be replicated by any state. The
Workgroup comprised 13 representatives of
organizations vital to an inclusive and diverse
strategic planning process.
Describe the
challenges faced, and below each challenge, describe
any solutions used to correct or reduce the problem.
-
Challenge: Lack of staff time. Coordinating the
strategic planning process was added onto the other
responsibilities of the Director of the Tobacco
Control Program.
- Solutions: Contract immediately with
facilitator, make reassignments of staff and plan
for required staff time.
- Challenge: Recruiting the appropriate people
to the Workgroup. The group lacked representation
from the gay/lesbian community, current smokers,
unions or the business community.
- Solutions: Continually re-visit the Workgroup
membership and the revitalize the recruitment effort
as more data comes to light.
- Challenge: Maintain Workgroup members’
attendance and active participation.
- Solutions: Circulate materials, communicate
by telephone and e-mail, and solicit input from
members between meetings. Expert participatory
techniques and inclusionary skills of an experienced
facilitator aid in maintaining active participation.
- Challenge: Recruit enough representative
organizations/groups to maintain regular attendance
of 12–15.
- Solutions: Invite more participants than you
need and anticipate absenteeism.
What would you
have done differently?
Invite more people than ideally are wanted to
attend. Explore the idea of designating money in the
budget for stipends for community-based
participants.
Lessons Learned
Notes
- Gather data available from resident
epidemiologists prior to convening the group.
- Hire an experienced facilitator prior to
convening the group.
- Allow sufficient time during the recruitment
process to develop contacts to ensure diversity
in the workgroup. But don’t expect perfection
the first time. Recruitment will need to be
continually revisited.
- Consider what the ideal number of
individuals might be and involve more people
than that number to ensure that the group will
have an adequate number of core participants.
- Have materials for the initial meeting ready
before scheduling the first meeting. Provide a
good description of the goals of the project,
time commitment and member responsibility.
Provide directions and hotel information for
those who will have to stay overnight. Be at the
door to welcome participants on arrival and
introduce them to one another.
- The workgroup will interact freely with one
another when the project coordinator and
facilitator do not impose their vision of the
process and outcomes on the group.
- Use the break-out method to increase the
power and efficiency of the group.
- Keep to a strict schedule.
- Give the group specific tasks to accomplish
both at and between meetings.
- Adapt and streamline CDC tools for state’s
individual circumstances.
Page last modified 07/25/2007