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Cancer Control Research

Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) The overall objectives of this project are to retrieve and analyze internal tobacco industry documents to describe industry strategies for targeting gay and lesbian populations, to assess effects of such strategies, and to explore how the issues raised in the documents are received by target groups. Evidence suggests that gays and lesbians, as a group, may have higher tobacco use rates than the general population, thus being at increased risk for tobacco-related diseases. This study will systematically document the extent, nature and effects of tobacco industry strategies for targeting gays and lesbians, thereby contributing knowledge useful for reducing tobacco-related health risks in this understudied population. The aims of the project are: Specific Aim # 1: Retrieve and analyze internal tobacco industry documents in order to describe: a) tobacco industry advertising and marketing strategies targeting gays and lesbians; b) how the tobacco industry seeks to influence tobacco control policy making within gay and lesbian communities; c) whether these efforts succeed in supporting the industry's larger public policy agenda. Specific Aim #2: Analyze the effects of industry strategies identified in the documents by analyzing the content of tobacco related articles in a sample of widely-read publications aimed for gay and/or lesbian audiences and comparing it with data from documents analyzed as part of Specific Aim # 1, and with data from a sample of general circulation publications. Specific Aim #3: Explore and describe how industry targeting strategies identified in the documents are received by their intended audiences by interviewing leaders of national gay/lesbian organizations and editors of gay/lesbian publications and conducting focus groups with gay and lesbian individuals. Specific Aim #4: Utilizing findings from Specific Aims #1, 2,and 3, develop and disseminate, with assistance from a panel of gay and lesbian advisers, specific recommendations for public health interventions aimed at addressing the issues identified in the document analyses.