The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: The Maricopa County Tobacco Use Prevention Program (MACTUPP) contracts with over 250 schools in the Phoenix metropolitan area to implement intensive tobacco prevention programs to 4-8 grade students. At the core of these programs are researched based tobacco prevention curricula. Although the effectiveness of these curriculum are well documented, ensuring fidelity in the implementation of the program is difficult due to the large area served and number of schools and classes participating.

Methods: MACTUPP has developed a system to monitor the activities and implementation of these contracts. This system includes a school monthly report that each school site coordinator completes documenting the program activities conducted and curriculum lessons completed. MACTUPP tracks this information in an Access database which allows staff to produce various reports by school, district or county wide on various measures. Upon completion of the curriculum, MACTUPP coordinates the delivery of a student post curriculum survey. This survey tracks measures of program satisfaction as well as some student outcome measures such as knowledge, attitude and beliefs. MACTUPP works closely with school districts and individual school contacts to set up these systems and to gain buy in for the evaluation component of the program.

Results: In 2004-2005, MACTUPP implemented programs in 258 schools and provided intensive tobacco education to over 25,000 students in grades four through eight. This system allowed MACTUPP to track program implementation and use this information to provide feedback to schools, report results to key stakeholders and program funders, and improve services.