EMPOWER: Empowering and Mobilizing Intergenerational Community Partners to Reduce Menthol & Flavored Tobacco Use Among At-Risk Communities in Kentucky

Project Abstract EMPOWER: Empowering and Mobilizing Intergenerational Community Partners to Reduce Menthol & Flavored Tobacco Use Among At-risk Communities in Kentucky The overarching purpose of the EMPOWER project is to mobilize intergenerational community partners to reduce menthol and flavored tobacco use among diverse communities, promote tobacco policy change, and improve health equity in Kentucky communities. The specific goals of the project are to engage, educate, and empower by: 1) Engaging diverse partners to expand the capacity and infrastructure of existing coalitions and to support a cadre of intergenerational advocates in diverse communities across Kentucky to champion tobacco prevention and policy advocacy to reduce tobacco-related disparities; 2) Educating intergenerational advocates in diverse communities in Kentucky using a train-the-trainer prevention and policy advocacy approach to sustain advocacy and community engagement in reducing menthol and flavored tobacco product use; and 3) Empowering community partners to translate and disseminate collected community-based data to support policy advocacy to reduce tobacco use and menthol tobacco-related disparities. We will work with two community coalitions, serving two different counties in Kentucky, to conduct a health equity and community needs assessment during Y1 to support the development of tailored community action plans. We plan to engage, educate, and empower intergenerational teams that represent and give voice to diverse communities in Kentucky during the five-year project. These teams, led by community health champions, will work in tandem with existing tobacco control or health/wellness coalitions to champion tobacco prevention and policy advocacy focused on reducing menthol and flavored tobacco use. We will conduct evidence- based prevention and advocacy training with each of the coalitions and intergenerational teams during Years 1 through Year 5. Each year, we will host an in-person Leadership Exchange. The purpose is to provide a unique opportunity for coalition members and intergenerational advocates across Kentucky to build connections, develop a deeper understanding of tobacco use, including menthol and flavored tobacco product use and disparities in diverse communities, and support the development and refinement of their community-led action plan, which will be implemented across the 5-year project. Advocates will also receive education to develop policy advocacy skills to support the translation and dissemination of community needs and surveillance data. This approach will ultimately strengthen intergenerational community leaders who serve, represent and give voice to diverse community sectors to promote health equity. Moreover, creating an intergenerational model that explicitly engages individuals across the lifespan, including youth and older adults, in policy advocacy will increase sustainability and long-term capacity. Our team has experience with all components of this approach but integrating intergenerational community-led teams as leaders in tobacco prevention and policy advocacy is a novel strategy with broad application to those striving to reduce tobacco inequities in diverse communities.