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The Investigating Tobacco and Gender (iTAG) research team’s

Invitational Meeting took place on April 19, 2012 at the Liu Institute

for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver.

This was a day-long event, using a combination of multimedia and

live webcast, that enabled remote presenters and participants to join

and view the presentations. This year’s theme, Getting Gender onto

the Tobacco Reduction Agenda, brought together a diverse group of

researchers, healthcare practitioners, tobacco control advocates, and

policy makers to discuss gender in tobacco reduction and cessation

(TRC) research and interventions.

Featured speakers included national and community-based tobacco

control advocates, who spoke about best practices in TRC and their

experience and views on gender-specific and gender-sensitive tobacco

control initiatives. Guest speakers were Jeffery Jordan (Rescue Social

Change Group, San Diego, California, rescuescg.com), Yvonne Hunt

(Smokefree Women, a project of the United States National Cancer

Institute, women.smokefree.gov), Suzanne Gaby (QuitNow Services

of British Columbia, quitnow.ca), and Tyler Janzen and Conner

Galway (Quitters Unite program in British Columbia,

quittersunite.com). The meeting provided an opportunity for the

iTAG investigative team to share findings related to innovative TRC

approaches. Emerging issues in TRC research and interventions were

highlighted and stimulated energized discussions among participants

about creating a gender-sensitive tobacco reduction agenda.

Presentations and panels were organized

under five topic areas:

Sex and Gender in Tobacco Reduction

- The State of the Evidence

Gender-Specific Tobacco Reduction

and Smoking Cessation Interventions

(Panel)

Tailoring Prevention Messages to

Audiences Segmented by Lifestyle and

Culture

Tobacco Prevention for Youth and

Young Adults: Gendered Approaches

(Panel)

Promising Gender-Sensitive Tobacco

Reduction Interventions from the

iTAG Team (Panel)

Getting Gender onto the Tobacco Reduction Agenda iTAG Invitational Meeting on Gender, Tobacco and Health 2012

MEETING REPORT

Link to the archived webcast of

the event:

iTAG2012

Meeting funding provided by a grant from CIHR

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Sex and Gender in Tobacco Reduction - The State of the

Evidence

Chizimuzo Okoli,

PhD, MPH, RN,

Assistant Professor,

College of Nursing,

University of Kentucky,

Iris Torchalla, PhD,

Research Scientist,

Centre for Health

Evaluation and

Outcome Sciences, University of British Columbia.

Drs. Okoli and Torchalla highlighted global prevalence, risk and

mortality from smoking, and gender/sex specific factors

associated with tobacco use and smoking cessation. Integrated

TRC treatment was recommended, for example, using nicotine

replacement therapy along with gender-specific behavioural

supports.

Panel: Gender-Specific Tobacco Reduction and Smoking

Cessation Interventions

Smokefree Women [Webcast]: Yvonne Hunt PhD, MPH,

Program Director, Tobacco Control Research Branch,

Behavioural Research Program, Division of Cancer Control and

Population Sciences of the National Cancer Institute, U.S.

National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Hunt spoke about harnessing the power of technology with

the NIH’s multi-platform tobacco cessation intervention for

women. The interactive website is designed to deliver tailored,

personalized messages, and optimize reach and impact using

mobile tools and social media. Dr. Hunt also described the

formal evaluation strategies being used to document the

effectiveness of the program and to inform future TRC

interventions for women. The Smokefree Women website can be

found at: women.smokefree.gov.

Women-Centred Tobacco Reduction: Lorraine Greaves, PhD,

DU, Senior Investigator and Nancy Poole, MA, Director, Research

and Knowledge Translation, British Columbia Centre of Excellence

for Women’s Health.

Dr. Greaves and Ms. Poole

highlighted the website

expectingtoquit.ca

a best practices website

directed to healthcare

practitioners on smoking

cessation interventions for

pregnant and postpartum

girls and women.

Liberation! A Guide to Women-Centered Tobacco Treatment was

introduced. This guide outlines a brief intervention for healthcare

providers, which can be delivered in-person or on the phone. The

guide provides suggestions on how to have conversations with

women about smoking, establishing links with other areas of

women’s lives, and guide women towards change in smoking

behaviour.

Father Knows Best: John Oliffe, PhD, RN, Associate Professor,

School of Nursing, University of British Columbia, Vancouver;

Joan Bottorff, PhD, RN, FCAHS, Director, Institute for Healthy

Living and Chronic Disease Prevention, University of British

Columbia Okanagan; Gayl Sarbit, PhD, Knowledge Broker,

University of British Columbia Okanagan.

Dr. Oliffe described the men-friendly TRC resources developed

using evidence from the FACET (Families Controlling and

Eliminating Tobacco) (facet.ubc.ca) research program. He used the

booklet, The Right Time….The Right Reasons, to highlight: 1) how

connections between masculine ideals (e.g., strength, decisiveness,

resilience, autonomy) and being smokefree could be fostered to

strengthen men’s motivation to reduce and stop smoking. 2) the

efficacy of incorporating men’s testimonials with evidence-based

TRC information, and 3) the importance of detailing other men’s

efforts and vision for being a smoke free dad. The use of these

approaches in Dads in Gear (DIG), a men-centered interactive and

peer supported intervention program aimed at fathering, exercise

and tobacco reduction, was also described.

Presentation Highlights:

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Presentation Highlights:

Guest Presentation: Tailoring Prevention Messages to

Audiences Segmented by Lifestyle and Culture

Jeffery Jordan, MA, President and Founder, Rescue Social

Change Group, San Diego, CA

Mr. Jordan presented on the Rescue Social Change Group’s

activities in research, strategy, and behavior change marketing

services for TRC. In this presentation, social branding was

described as a behavioural change strategy that utilizes

commercial marketing

tactics to link being

smoke free with a range of

iconic young adult

cultures. Strategies

included using in-depth

information about young

adult identities to design

smokefree messages,

interventions and

treatment. For example, Rescue Social Change Group’s approach

to groups such as LGBT and hipsters focused on the social

marketing of peer connections (often in nightclubs) that were

committed to being smokefree. For more information about

Rescue Social Change: rescuescg.com

Panel: Tobacco Prevention for Youth and Young Adults -

Gendered Approaches

Smart Steps - A Gender-

Specific Cessation Resource

for Teens: Suzanne Gaby,

Manager, QuitNow Services of

British Columbia, Victoria.

Suzanne Gaby introduced the

Smart Steps – Youth - a pocket

-sized gender-sensitive quit

smoking booklet by QuitNow Services to help youth with TRC.

QuitNow Services involved end-users in designing the booklet

and followed their advice in making the booklet brief, direct,

and gender specific (one side for boys and the other side for

girls). The booklet is available from QuitNow: quitnow.ca

Quitters Unite - Using Social Media to Engage Young Adult

Women and Men: Tyler

Janzen, Project Manager/

Senior Consultant, Context

Research; Conner Galway,

Director, Junction Marketing.

Tyler Janzen and Conner

Galway detailed the My Smoke-

Free Lifestyle Contest! - a

strategic approach of Quitters Unite using social media to

encourage participants to submit videos chronicling their

smokefree lifestyles. More information about the contest is

available at: quittersunite.com/contests/my-smoke-free-lifestyle

Picture Me Smokefree: Young

Adults’ Representations of

Smoking and Quitting Using

Online Digital Photography -

Gendered Possibilities:

Rebecca Haines-Saah, PhD,

Research Associate,

University of British

Columbia Okanagan.

Dr. Haines-Saah described the use of visual methods in research

and interventions in TRC. The aim of the Picture Me Smokefree

project is to create an online community where young adult

participants can share photographs that capture their TRC efforts

and sustained quits.

Panel: Promising Gender-Sensitive Tobacco Reduction

Interventions from the iTAG Team

Smoking and Breast Cancer Risk: Tailoring Messages to Gender

and Aboriginal Status:

Joan Bottorff, PhD, RN,

FCAHS, Director, Institute

for Healthy Living and

Chronic Disease

Prevention, University of

British Columbia

Okanagan; Chris

Richardson, PhD,

Assistant Professor, School

of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia.

Dr. Joan Bottorff presented this research on behalf of the

Supporting Tailored Approaches to Reducing Tobacco (START)

research team. She described the development of gender and

Aboriginal-specific messages to raise awareness among youth

about girls’ increased risk for breast cancer when they smoke or are

exposed to secondhand smoke. Preliminary results of the province-

wide evaluation of the messages are encouraging.

Lung Cancer, Family Ties and Gender: Extending the Reach of

Tobacco Reduction: Carole Robinson, PhD, RN, Associate

Professor, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health and Social

Development, University of British Columbia Okanagan; Joan

Bottorff, PhD, RN, FCAHS, Director, Institute for Healthy Living

and Chronic Disease Prevention, University of British Columbia

Okanagan; Gayl Sarbit, PhD, Knowledge Broker, University of

British Columbia Okanagan; Iris Torchalla, PhD, Research

Scientist, Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences,

University of British Columbia.

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Drs. Joan Bottorff

and Gayl Sarbit

shared details

about the

development of a

motivational

booklet to

encourage family

members of

patients with lung cancer to reduce and quit smoking. The

booklet is based on studies that explored the influence of a

lung cancer diagnosis on interpersonal dynamics in families in

which one or more members continue to smoke. The booklet is

designed to reinforce the strength of relationships as an

underlying force to motivate changes in smoking behaviour

using a gender-sensitive approach.

iTAG (investigating Tobacco & Gender)

University of British Columbia

604-822-7638 ph

250-807-8627 ph

itag@nursing.ubc.ca

www.itag.ubc.ca

The Tobacco Dependence Clinic: Gender Issues and Possibilities in

Cessation Treatment: Chizimuzo Okoli, PhD, MPH, RN,

Assistant Professor, College of Nursing, University of Kentucky.

Dr. Okoli discussed the

Tobacco Dependence

Clinic (TDC) - an

interprofessional

program that provides

behavioural counselling

and pharmacotherapy

for men and women

smokers with poly-

addictions. Differences

in men and women’s responses to the program provide support for

considering gender influences in future programming.

Some of the iTAG team members and collaborators following lunch at Sage Café, University of British Columbia (April 20, 2012)

Presentation Highlights: