Stakeholder Input in Establishing an Evaluation Plan for Tobacco Counter-Marketing Campaigns

Background: Maine was one of eight states to consistently meet funding recommendations for tobacco control from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and one of three states to experience 45%-60% reductions in youth smoking rates since 1999. Purpose: The state's tobacco control coalition, Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine, sought to develop an evaluation plan based on the framework from the CDC's Introduction to Program Evaluation for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs and the integration of the CDC's Designing and Implementing an Effective Tobacco-Counter-Marketing Campaign. Methods: The coalition conducted key informant interviews and then met with stakeholders in Maine to address the design, management, implementation and evaluation of the state's tobacco counter-marketing campaigns. Results: The priorities identified included the need to improve communication among all stakeholders, to synchronize local and state campaigns, to elicit audience insights among specific populations and to link program inputs with outcomes through evaluation. Meeting participants noted that lessons learned should be shared through internal mechanisms and external publications. Discussion: We describe the practical application of state and national expertise and resources to the development of Maine's tobacco counter-marketing campaign evaluation. Translation to Health Education Practice: This article may help other public health programs to work with stakeholders to identify program and evaluation needs in the development of a health communication evaluation.