Boone County -Smoke-free City Smoke Free Advocacy in the City of Florence

The purpose of this project is to continue to build capacity for tobacco-free environments in Boone County Kentucky. The primary goal is to develop a broad-based local health coalition to launch a smoke-free workplace campaign in Florence. The objectives are to: engage hard-to-reach populations, train and advise the coalition to use evidence-based advocacy strategies and build demand for smoke-free environments. The long-term goal is policy change by local elected officials that will protect 100% of the Florence population from secondhand smoke in all public places and workplaces. This project is designed to create a strong coalition infrastructure to grow and sustain the smoke-free workplace campaign in the future. Currently the Northern Kentucky District Health Department (NKDHD), the Boone County Alliance, St. Elizabeth Hospital, and LiveWell Florence are all engaged in health promotion efforts, and we hope to bring them together along with additional key civic and healthcare leaders in order to expand the coalition. As a contract with the NKDHD, Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy faculty and staff will provide expert technical assistance and train the group in smoke- free policy advocacy strategies. Northern Kentucky District Health Department will contract with KCSP to provide tailored, evidence-based technical assistance to the LiveWell Smoke-free Florence coalition. Smoke-free advocates in Florence will take KCSP’s Smoke-free Community Readiness Assessment, and KCSP will provide a report with next steps for the coalition tailored to Florence’s stage of readiness. When the coalition is ready, KCSP will facilitate a ‘circle of influence’ activity with coalition members to assess the best messengers and message frames to educate local elected officials about smoke-free ordinances. KCSP will continue to review coalition products to provide best practice feedback and attend monthly coalition meetings.