M o n o g r a p h 1 6.

A S S I S T
2. The Conceptual Framework
Robert W. Moon, Darla Havlicek, John M. Garcia, Robert E. Vollinger Jr.,
and Brenda McAdams Motsinger
Contributor: Frances A. Stillman
Contents
The Fundamental Premises of ASSIST: Preventing Tobacco Use through the
Public Health Model .................................................................................................... 21
Coalition Building: Involving and Mobilizing the Community .............................................. 23
The ASSIST Conceptual Framework: Priority Populations, Channels,
and Interventions ........................................................................................................ 24
Axis 1: Priority Populations .................................................................................................. 24
Axis 2: Channels .................................................................................................................. 25
Axis 3: Interventions ............................................................................................................ 26
ASSIST Program Objectives and Evaluation ................................................................ 28
Community Environment ..................................................................................................... 28
Worksites ............................................................................................................................. 29
Schools ................................................................................................................................ 30
Healthcare Settings ............................................................................................................. 30
Community Groups .............................................................................................................. 30
The Evaluation Plan for ASSIST ........................................................................................... 31
The ASSIST Evaluation Model .............................................................................................. 32
Strength of Tobacco Control Index ................................................................................ 32
Data Sources ................................................................................................................ 32
The Selection of States ................................................................................................ 35
Time to Act .................................................................................................................. 38
References .................................................................................................................. 38
19
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
Table and Figures
Figure 2.1. The Public Health Model ......................................................................................... 22
Figure 2.2. The ASSIST Conceptual Framework ........................................................................ 25
Table 2.1. ASSIST Program Objectives by 1998 ........................................................................ 29
Figure 2.3. The ASSIST Evaluation Model ................................................................................. 33
Figure 2.4. States Awarded ASSIST Contracts .......................................................................... 37
20
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
2. The Conceptual Framework
During the year following the approval of the American Stop Smoking
Intervention Study (ASSIST) project by the Board of Scientific Counselors, the
National Cancer Institute (NCI) staff formalized a description of the components
programmatic, organizational, and operationalthat would be required in a
comprehensive tobacco prevention program. Those components would be
incorporated as program standards in a request for proposals, the mechanism the
government uses to offer contracts for work to be performed. The standards
presented the critical elements for an effective comprehensive intervention for
tobacco prevention and control. They were based on the NCI research database, the
cumulative body of smoking and behavioral change research literature, and the
experience of public health professionals. As such, the standards represented the
state of the science in smoking prevention and control at that time.
The standards informed the development of the ASSIST Program Guidelines for
Tobacco-Free Communities and later served as the foundation for The Robert Wood
Johnson Foundations SmokeLess States Program and the Initiatives to Mobilize for
the Prevention and Control of Tobacco Use (IMPACT) program of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention. They also provided guidance for programs in
California, Massachusetts, and other states. This chapter describes the conceptual
framework used for planning and implementing each states ASSIST program.
The Fundamental Premises of ASSIST:
Preventing Tobacco Use through the Public Health Model
C
oncurrent with the efforts to formalize the concept for the ASSIST model, public
health professionals throughout the United States were beginning to understand
more fully the relationships between health behaviors and social and physical environ-
ments. Tobacco use is developed and shaped by social context in addition to an individ-
uals biological responses. Changes in the social and physical environment that can
influence the initiation and cessation of tobacco use and exposure to environmental to-
bacco smoke include tobacco prices, antitobacco media campaigns, declining social ac-
ceptability of smoking, limitations on where tobacco use is permitted, and limitations
on access to tobacco products.
Given the broader perspective, smoking was seen as a public health problem requir-
ing population-based interventions that extend beyond individual counseling and edu-
cation. The agent-host-environment triad is commonly used to conceptualize and
address public health problems, thereby providing more strategic options for control-
ling diseases and promoting health. (See figure 2.1.)
21
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
Health departments, because of their
commitment to public health, their
institutional partnerships to accomplish their
presence, will be the only eligible recipients
The
American Stop Smoking Intervention Study
(Publication
no. NCI-CN-95165-38). Bethesda, MD:
National Cancer Institute, 30.
This public health model is a funda-
mental component of epidemiology and
relationships between people and their
Applied to tobacco control, it focuses at-
tention on four priority actions:
and media messages
nicotine addiction
1
Based on the ecological model, the
societal phenomena, such as public poli-
Figure 2.1. The Public Health Model
Host (tobacco user)
clinics and cessation aid
(e.g., drugs, nicotine
gum, patch).
Agent
(tobacco,
tobacco
industry)
substances from
tobacco.
Prohibit smoking in public places.
Change social norms.
Note: p. 51, for a
discussion of the triad.
Eligibility for ASSIST Contracts
experience in working in a society of
goals, their access to target populations of
smokers, and their guaranteed continued
of ASSIST contracts.
Source: National Cancer Institute. 1990.
(ASSIST) request for proposals
health behavioral sciences. The ecological
systems model, or a social-environmental
model, depicts connections and inter-
environments and builds on the triad.
1. Promoting a tobacco-free social norm
through widespread policy changes
2. Preventing the initiation of tobacco
use and thereby the development of
3. Making support for quitting widely
available to tobacco users
4. Protecting nonsmokers from exposure
to environmental tobacco smoke
ASSIST conceptual framework empha-
sizes how the influences of social rela-
tionships, environmental conditions, and
cies that affect tobacco use and health,
provide a structure for designing media
and policy interventions for multiple
channels and populations. (See figure 2.2.)
Provide smoking cessation
Environments
(social and physical)
Remove harmful
Increase taxes.
See the 2003 Institute of Medicine report, The Future of the Publics Health in the 21st Century,
22
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
Given the public health conceptual-
ization of the tobacco problem, impor-
tant assumptions were identified and
articulated as ASSIST program guidelines:
1. When a community affected by
change is involved in initiating and
promoting the development of that
change, there is an increased proba-
bility that the change will be suc-
cessful and permanent. This
involvement includes participation
by community representatives in
defining the problem and in plan-
ning and instituting steps to resolve
the problem.
2. Smoking control interventions
should be targeted at broad social
and environmental change rather
than individual change. Therefore,
efforts to achieve priority public
policy objectives should take prece-
dence over efforts to support service
delivery.
3. Interventions should be directed to-
ward efforts that will have the great-
est potential for producing a major
impact on smoking control. Usually,
this would suggest targeting at the
highest structural level of the site
(i.e., state or region). However, this
should not unduly preempt a careful
weighing of the strategic benefits of
local efforts.
4. Interventions targeted at popula-
tions at higher risk for smoking are
likely to be more cost effective than
undifferentiated initiatives targeted
at the population as a whole. How-
ever, where policy advocacy is the
appropriate intervention, the de-
fined target audiences may not be
representative of the target popula-
tion but of other segments of the
general public that would have a
greater impact on implementing the
policy.
5. Staff energies should be devoted to
building capacity within the coali-
tion and the site rather than directly
carrying out interventions.
6. ASSIST resources will augment the
existing resources of coalition
members and other community or-
ganizations to accomplish ASSIST
objectives. Rather than supplanting
resources, ASSIST will stimulate
and enhance existing resources to
expand beyond their current smok-
ing control activities. Conversely,
ASSIST staff resources will be am-
plified by contributions of coalition
members and other community
organizations.
1(Overview, pp45)
Coalition Building: Involving
and Mobilizing the Community
W
orking with and through communi-
ties was a central operational and
structural approach of ASSIST. If a pro-
grams primary focus is on social- and
system-oriented changes, stakeholders
and key influential persons in the system
must be involved and active.
The ability to develop and use statewide
and local tobacco control coalitions was a
fundamental underpinning for operational-
izing the ASSIST conceptual framework
and was a requirement in the request for
proposals. The requirement conveyed
NCIs commitment to the community-
based approach. The coalition model,
2,3
as the organizational structure for the
ASSIST framework, enables diverse
groups to work together to plan, support,
and coordinate tobacco control efforts. (An
extensive description of the coalition
model is presented in chapter 4.) ASSIST
coalitions would be responsible for a vari-
ety of functions, including the following:
23
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k

Reaching out and engaging community

groups and individuals who have the
potential to contribute to community
tobacco control mobilization on all
intervention fronts and in all channels

Mobilizing the organizations and

human resources needed to
collaborate with ASSIST staff in
conducting site analyses, developing
comprehensive tobacco control plans,
and developing annual action plans

Overseeing and implementing the

program interventions defined in the
annual action plans
Whatever the chosen structure and
form of governance, each coalition was
required by the ASSIST program guide-
lines to develop responsive leadership
and certain capabilities to conduct inter-
ventions successfully.
The ASSIST Conceptual
Framework: Priority
Populations, Channels,
and Interventions
T
he ASSIST conceptual framework,
an adaptation of the ecological model,
approaches the prevention of tobacco use
through three priority strategies: commu-
nity organization and mobilization
through coalition-building, mass media
interventions, and policy advocacy. The
framework incorporates three axes,
which became the projects planning
model: priority populations,* channels,
and interventions. The ASSIST concep-
tual framework (known as the cube)
depicts the channels for delivering inter-
vention activities to priority populations.
(See figure 2.2. This early version of the
cube has four channels. The Community
Environment channel was added later.)
Axis 1: Priority Populations
ASSIST was designed to reach
groups with high rates of tobacco use,
with limited access to information about
tobacco use and cessation services, and
at high risk for initiating tobacco use.
National prevalence data revealed that
the population groups with the highest
rates of tobacco use were adolescents,
ethnic minorities, blue-collar workers,
unemployed people, and women. Be-
cause of the potential for the greatest
long-term impact, youths were identified
as a major priority population.
The ASSIST model readily integrates
the social marketing concept of priority
populations with a community develop-
ment orientation; that is, it views involve-
ment of community groups as important
for reaching the priority populations and
even engages the priority populations in
implementing interventions. For example,
to reach adolescents, the coalitions
*At the outset of ASSIST, the term target populations was used. The term target is commonly used in
marketing disciplines to refer to population groups. However, in the early 1990s, because many in the
public found the term target offensive and even threatening, ASSIST replaced the term with priority. In the
glossary to the ASSIST Program Guidelines for Tobacco-Free Communities, target (priority) populations
are defined as follows: segments of the general population that merit special attention based on their
higher risk for cancer (e.g., heavy smokers), potentially higher risk of smoking (e.g., youths and teenagers),
or lack of access to smoking control services (p. 6).
24
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
worked with adolescents themselves and reinforces a tobacco-free norm commu-
gave them the lead in advocacy interven- nity-wide. The channel of community
tions, such as media events and making environment includes smoke-free restau-
presentations to city councils. rants, bars, and other public buildings.
Through the worksite channel, business-
Axis 2: Channels
es can become involved in creating
smoke-free workplaces and in develop-
The following channels for prevention
ing cessation programs for employees
and control of tobacco use are the set-
and their spouses who use tobacco.
tings through which intervention pro-
Schools are settings in which tobacco
gram activities reach the specific
use policies should be enacted and en-
individuals and groups:
forcedin school buildings, on school

Community environment
grounds, at school sporting events, and

Worksites
at school-related meetings. Schools also

Schools
offer the means for outreach to teachers

Healthcare settings
and students with strategies and inter-

Community groups
ventions to prevent tobacco use and to
Promoting a tobacco-free social norm become an empowering vehicle for
in each of these settings establishes and change. Healthcare settings ensure that
Program Services
Mass Media
Schools
Health
Care
Settings
Community
Groups
A
x
i
s

2
C
h
a
n
n
e
l
s

Axis 3
Axis 1
Figure 2.2. The ASSIST Conceptual Framework
Policy
Worksites
Interventions
Target Populations
Source: ASSIST Coordinating Center. 1991. Overview of ASSIST. In ASSIST program guidelines for tobacco-
free communities. Internal document, ASSIST Coordinating Center, Rockville, MD (p. 9).
25
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
Critical Planning Issues
be considered:
that all communications describe the issue
as a problem for all members of a commu-
tracizing tobacco users can polarize the
location of resources. Such an assessment
the potential of the healthcare system,
Several elements are critical to planning a
comprehensive smoking prevention and con-
trol program. Whether for a small commu-
nity, city, major metropolitan area, state, or
the nation, the following three issues should
1. Tobacco use is a public health problem.
Participants in the program must ensure
nity, not just for smokers. Blaming and os-
public and cause hard feelings that under-
mine tobacco prevention and control efforts.
2. A careful assessment of the communitys
needs and assets is essential to effective al-
includes defining the tobacco problem;
identifying priority groups; surveying the
current level of program services, policies,
and various types of media; and analyzing
worksites, schools, community networks,
and the community environment to reach
smokers. This process is time-consuming
and delays moving into action but is criti-
cal to the success of tobacco control efforts.
3. A comprehensive long-term plan must be
developed to integrate and coordinate the
use of various types of media, develop
policies, and deliver program services to
the appropriate audiences to achieve sig-
nificant reductions in tobacco use.
smoking is an element in the patient as-
sessment. Community groups, such as
Rotary clubs, agree to no smoking at
their meetings. (The subsection below
on program objectives elaborates on
these channels.)
Axis 3: Interventions
In the ASSIST conceptual framework
and planning model, three types of inter-
ventions are delivered through the chan-
nelspolicy, mass media, and program
services. Tobacco control research
shows that the social and physical envi-
ronment surrounding smokers and po-
tential smokers influences their
behavior. Smoking rates among large
populations appear to be related to cer-
tain public and private policies on tobac-
co use and to tobacco marketing.
Policies can take the form of legislation,
such as excise tax increases, access and
advertising restrictions, or private rules,
such as voluntary adoption of workplace
or restaurant smoking bans that are im-
plemented without a public mandate.
Each category of intervention includes a
variety of specific activities, some that
can be delivered through all five chan-
nels (e.g., self-help materials or large
community-based magnet events, such
as the Great American Smokeout) and
some that are most appropriately deliv-
ered within a specific channel (e.g., brief
counseling by healthcare providers,
school-based smoking prevention pro-
grams, or messages designed specifical-
ly for priority populations).
The aim of the interventions is to alter
the environmental and social influences
affecting the populations use of tobac-
co; therefore, the strongest emphasis is
on media and public and private policy
interventions. In the ASSIST model,
four policy areas are priorities:
1. Eliminating exposure to environmen-
tal tobacco smoke
2. Promoting higher taxes for tobacco
3. Limiting tobacco advertising and pro-
motions
4. Reducing minors access to tobacco
products
26
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
ASSIST Program Guidelines
For example, policy efforts can be
directed at promoting clean indoor air
policies, promoting higher excise taxes
for tobacco products, limiting tobacco
advertising, and restricting minors ac-
cess to tobacco. Media activities should
support these policy initiatives through
well-designed media campaigns, espe-
cially campaigns that generate news
coverage (sometimes termed earned me-
dia coverage), although the paid media
approach is sometimes preferred to en-
sure prime-time and adequate coverage.
Engaging the media strategically to
bring attention to an issue or to promote
a policy is known as media advocacy.
Media advocacy was a critical strategy
in the ASSIST project, which advanced
its application as an intervention in the
public health model of prevention.
Though proven to be effective inter-
ventions, the relative impacts of these
different types of policies and restrictions
have not yet been conclusively established.
However, the Community Guide to Pre-
ventive Services is an excellent resource
that considers the strength of the evidence
base for policy interventions and provides
very helpful recommendations regarding
their relative effectiveness. See http://
www.thecommunityguide.org/tobacco/
default.htm.
4
(For more information about
the scientific basis and rationale behind
these policy areas, see chapters 57.)
At the time the conceptual framework
was developed, the impact of increases
in cigarette excise taxes on smoking be-
havior was already documented.
5
Analy-
ses demonstrated that a price increase of
10% produces a decrease of about 4% in
demand for cigarettes, particularly
among men 20 to 25 years old. This de-
crease results largely from people
choosing not to smoke at all; the remain-
der is attributable to decreases in daily
consumption rates by men 35 and older
who continue to smoke.
5
Analyses also
showed that youths are sensitive to price
changes. An 8-cent decrease in the fed-
eral tax would induce up to 1 million
young persons aged 12 to 25 to smoke,
whereas without the tax decrease, they
would not smoke. Conversely, an 8- to
16-cent tax increase would influence
from 1 to 2 million persons ages 12 to
25 and from 800,000 to 1.5 million
adults to quit smoking or not to start.
Thus, the effect of a tax increase would
translate into the prevention of hundreds
of thousands of premature smoking-re-
lated deaths.
6
Restrictions on indoor smoking and to-
bacco advertising may also influence
27
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
smoking behavior. By the time the
ASSIST framework was developed, sev-
eral longitudinal studies had documented
decreases in prevalence and increases in
smoking cessation after the enactment of
smoking restrictions in individual work-
sites and healthcare settings, whereas oth-
er studies did not.
711
Several studies had
suggested that reductions in smoking
prevalence can be achieved by imple-
menting significant restrictions on tobac-
co promotion and advertising.
1216
Many
types of restrictions had been suggested.
These restrictions included a total ban on
advertising; removal of cartoon charac-
ters, color, or people from ads; bans on
point-of-purchase advertising; bans on
event sponsorship; and removal of out-
door advertising near schools and parks.
Program services are likely to be
needed once media and policy efforts
have been successful in putting tobacco
use policies in place and in creating a to-
bacco-free norm. Program services were
originally defined in the ASSIST pro-
gram guidelines as those smoking con-
trol activities involved in directly
assisting individuals to make behavioral
changes consistent with nonsmoking
norms, but the concept later evolved to
include all forms of tobacco use. For
purposes of ASSIST, three main kinds of
services were identified:
1. Use of cessation resources to help
people stop smoking
2. Services to prevent smoking initiation
3. Smoking education for the general
public
ASSIST Program Objectives
and Evaluation
T
he request for proposals set forth pro-
gram objectives based on a public
health perspective. The program objec-
tives would provide strategic direction
and priorities for the coalitions, but it
would be the responsibility of the coali-
tion members to develop the tactics, or
intervention activities, that would
achieve the objectives. The ASSIST ap-
proach to achieving the objectives en-
compassed two phases:
1. A 2-year planning phase, during
which state-level analyses of resourc-
es were made and comprehensive
smoking control plans were developed
2. A 5-year implementation phase*
The program objectives were revised
early in the ASSIST project and were set
forth in the ASSIST Program Guide-
lines for Tobacco-Free Communities, as
presented in table 2.1.
The following sections elaborate on
the program objectives in terms of the
channels to be used in implementing the
ASSIST planning model.
Community Environment
All urban areas and regions of the
country comprise various smaller com-
munities that can be geographically,
ethnically, or culturally defined. Com-
munity environment refers to the general
physical and social environment in iden-
tified areas within the intervention site.
*The ASSIST project was originally scheduled to end in 1998 but was later extended through the end of
September 1999.
28
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
Table 2.1. ASSIST Program Objectives by 1998
Channel Objective
Community Environment By 1998, cues and messages supporting nonsmoking will have in-
creased, and pro-smoking cues and messages will have decreased.
By 1998, sites will substantially increase and strengthen public support
of policies which a) mandate clean indoor air; b) restrict access to to-
bacco by minors; c) increase economic incentives and taxation to dis-
courage the use of tobacco products; and d) restrict the advertising and
promotion of tobacco.
Community Groups By 1998, major community groups and organizations that represent the
priority populations and have broad-based statewide reach should be in-
volved in ASSIST activities.
Worksites By 1998, proportion of worksites with a formal smoking policy that
prohibits or severely restricts smoking at the workplace should increase
to at least 75 percent.
By 1998, worksites reaching major populations will adopt and maintain
a tobacco use cessation focus.
Schools By 1998, 100 percent of schools serving grades K through 12 and pub-
lic vocation/technical/trade schools will be tobacco free.
By 1998, 100 percent of all schools serving grades K through 12 will
use a tested, efficacious tobacco use prevention curriculum.
Healthcare Settings By 1998, at least 75 percent of primary medical and dental care provid-
ers will routinely advise cessation and provide assistance and followup
for all of their tobacco-using patients.
By 1998, all public health facilities, both outpatient and inpatient, will
have enforced smoke-free policies.
Source: ASSIST Coordinating Center. 1992. Resource materials section. In ASSIST training materials. Vol. III. Site
analysis and comprehensive smoking control plan. July 2021. Internal document, ASSIST Coordinating Center,
Rockville, MD.
The community environment as a chan- the tobacco control issue and changing
nel consists of the multiple community the social environment is to involve nu-
outlets that reach all citizens regardless
merous organizations and groups in plan-
of employment, educational, health, so-
ning, initiating, and implementing tobacco
cial, or smoking status. The presence
control activities at the local level.
and salience of messages promoting
Worksites
tobacco use or cessation, the availability
(or lack) of cigarettes and smokeless
Worksites are ready-made locations
tobacco, and the social norms for smok-
for implementing and supporting tobac-
ing in public places all contribute to a co-free policies and smoking cessation
community environment that may or programs. Worksites also provide an op-
may not support tobacco use. An effec- portunity to reach the ASSIST priority
tive strategy for increasing awareness of populations: women, blue-collar workers,
29
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
and people of low educational attain-
ment. Worksites are an important chan-
nel for involving nonsmokers in
tobacco control efforts, particularly
through the promotion of nonsmoking
policies. Restrictions on smoking in the
workplace protect nonsmokers from ex-
posure to the tobacco smoke of others.
Thus, successful worksite smoking
control programs consist of two major
components:
1. Motivation and support for smoking
cessation attempts
2. A clear nonsmoking policy that is
strictly enforced
It is important in implementing work-
site smoking control programs that em-
ployees take responsibility for planning
and implementing smoking control poli-
cies and programs in their own worksites.
Schools
Schools provide another important
channel for preventing tobacco use be-
cause they represent a primary channel
for reaching youths and adolescents and
provide an opportunity for reaching in-
dividuals who may not be reached
through worksites. Schools also provide
a forum for reinforcing parental messag-
es delivered through worksite programs.
The school environment is established to
support learning and, thus, naturally pro-
vides the skills and support for the deliv-
ery of prevention and cessation
programs to students, faculty, and staff.
Further, during class time, students may
be receptive to learning about the health
consequences of tobacco use and the
benefits of cessation. Finally, as self-
governing establishments, schools pro-
vide important opportunities for imple-
menting tobacco-free policies. School-
based prevention and control activities
should be conducted through all private
and public primary, secondary, and post-
secondary schools.
Healthcare Settings
Because of the potential for health-
care providers to reach a substantial
number of smokers, healthcare settings
can be highly effective channels for
smoking cessation and prevention activi-
ties. In addition, influential healthcare
providers who are interested in playing a
leadership role in tobacco control should
be identified. They should be encour-
aged to influence their colleagues direct-
ly by training their peers in intervention
techniques and indirectly by raising the
topic at meetings and social events.
Community Groups
Community groups of individuals
who gather regularly for some mutual
purpose are considered to be networks.
Such networks range in structure from
formal (social clubs and some service
organizations) to informal (e.g., block
associations, neighborhood centers) and
are representative racially and ethnically
of the community. Community groups
are an important channel for preventing
tobacco use because they provide an op-
portunity to reach individuals who may
not be reached through healthcare set-
tings, worksites, or schools. In addition,
the groups create an expanded capacity
for ongoing support of nonsmoking
norms at all levels of the community.
Community networks include youth or-
ganizations, service and social clubs,
30
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
and religious and professional organiza-
tions. They include large organizations
that meet regularly and small groups that
have the potential to reach priority
groups of smokers. Small groups vary
greatly in structure and function and may
be uniquely able to reach certain groups
of smokers. They include such entities as
childcare co-ops, block associations, af-
ter-school programs, and social clubs.
The Evaluation Plan for ASSIST
The main outcome expected from the
ASSIST project was a trend of decreas-
ing smoking prevalence in ASSIST
states that would be greater than a trend
in non-ASSIST states. To evaluate those
trends, data would be needed at the state
level and the national level. Because
ASSIST was a national demonstration
project, it would have been difficult for
individual states to independently evalu-
ate their own efforts and then combine
those evaluations with evaluations from
the other states. Consequently, no funds
were allocated to the states for evalua-
tion. Rather, as recommended by the
ASSIST Scientific Advisory Committee,
NCI staff decided to have the evaluation
conducted centrally at NCI. Even so, the
resources devoted to evaluation were
quite modest relative to the total budget
of the project. Thus, for the most part,
existing databases had to be used, and
designing the evaluation of this complex
project proved to be a considerable chal-
lenge.
17
In addition, during the planning
process, the lack of adequate scientific
methodology for evaluating such a
large-scale, multi-site demonstration be-
came evident, and a number of revisions
to the original plan became necessary.
To help address the inherent challeng-
es of the ASSIST evaluation, ad hoc ad-
visory groups were convened in 1990
and met during several months to assist
NCI in developing the initial design for
process and outcome evaluations and for
impact substudies. Later in 1992, a
broad-based ASSIST Evaluation Com-
mittee was established to advise NCI
and the ASSIST Coordinating Center
(which provided technical assistance to
the states) on the evaluation plan and to
address the various issues surrounding
the evaluation. The committee identified
potential evaluation and research ques-
tions, suggested secondary data sources,
recommended priorities for evaluation
activities, reviewed proposed analytic
approaches and data collection and mea-
surement methodologies, and provided
feedback on draft documents related to
the ASSIST evaluation.
18
The advisory groups and the commit-
tee had to address a number of theoreti-
cal challenges. As a demonstration
project, ASSIST was not a randomized
experiment but rather a purposeful sam-
ple. Would comparisons to non-ASSIST
states be valid measures of the effect of
ASSIST? States were selected for partic-
ipation in ASSIST because of their capa-
bilities to deliver the three types of
interventions to reach populations having
the highest smoking rates. These criteria
set them apart from most other states.
Complicating the concept was the fact
that two states, California and Massa-
chusetts, received financial windfalls
about the time that ASSIST was being
funded. Massachusetts was an ASSIST
state, but the committee had to consider
whether California should be included
31
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
for comparison and if so, how it fit in
because of the large spectrum of capa-
bilities represented by the tobacco con-
trol program. In addition, some
non-ASSIST states had started to imple-
ment programs that had elements similar
to components of the ASSIST model,
and a large amount of natural contami-
nation (diffusion) to non-ASSIST states
was to be expected from a nationwide
program (personal communication from
L. Kessler to C. Backinger, 2001).
In 1996, a technical expert panel was
formed to address the methodological is-
sues implied by the theoretical challeng-
es. The panel developed a conceptual
model to guide the evaluation, to deter-
mine the research questions and the spe-
cific set of measures to be used in the
evaluation, and to identify the data col-
lection needs and existing data sources.
19
The ASSIST Evaluation Model
The evaluation plan took into consid-
eration the fact that environmental
change occurs incrementally at a modest
pace; therefore, multiple outcome points
would be needed for tracking the contin-
uum of change over the course of the
project.
17
To put the evaluation in per-
spective, the evaluation model explains
the sequential process of change result-
ing from statewide tobacco control ef-
forts. The evaluation model shows all the
components to be measured that led to
the reduction of tobacco use. Since 1996,
the model has been simplified. The cur-
rent model is depicted in figure 2.3.
Strength of Tobacco Control Index
A method was developed as an indi-
rect measure for the program effects of
ASSISTthe Strength of Tobacco Con-
trol index (SoTC). The method summa-
rizes three constructs (resources,
capacity, and antitobacco efforts) to
form an overall exposure measure of to-
bacco control efforts at the state level:
strength of tobacco control. Instead of
measuring the individual effects of all
the different tobacco control programs,
this exposure measure summarizes this
complex construct and the multiple fac-
ets and components of tobacco control
efforts.
19
SoTC data were collected for
199899 from key informants at state-
level tobacco control organizations in all
50 states. Analyses of the data were con-
ducted at the end of the ASSIST project.
Peer-reviewed articles have been pub-
lished, and an NCI monograph on the
ASSIST evaluation is forthcoming.
Data Sources
Conducting an evaluation required
consistent, comparable data across all
the states in the countrydata that
would enable analyses of state-level
norms and tobacco control outcomes,
such as media coverage, worksite clean
air policies, and legislation. These data
would be independent measures collected
about all the states and not tied directly
to ASSIST. A number of data sources,
described below, were considered for the
outcome and process evaluations of
ASSIST. Two of thesesite analyses
and coalition assessmentguided the
states during the planning and imple-
mentation phases. The other sources be-
came integral to the ASSIST evaluation
model: Tobacco Use Supplement
Current Population Survey, cigarette
consumption data, databases on state
32
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
tracking database.
Site Analyses.
required to conduct a site analysis to
bacco control plan and to monitor the
implementation of its plan and progress
use; and the social and political climate
for enacting and enforcing tobacco con-
trol policies. It included an assessment
strengths and weaknesses for imple-
control, and media relationships. (See
chapter 4 for more details.) Using the
information from the site analysis, each
initiate tobacco use.
20
Coalition Assessment. Because the
Figure 2.3. The ASSIST Evaluation Model
State Conditions
Strength of
Protobacco
Initial
Outcomes
Intermediate
Outcomes in
Attitudes and
ASSIST &
Other
23 (3): 25980.
Final Outcomes
and
Consumption
and local legislation, and the media
Each ASSIST state was
provide the baseline information that it
needed to develop a comprehensive to-
toward its objectives. The site analysis
documented the distribution of tobacco
use by age, gender, and geographical
area; the economic burden of tobacco
of the states potential resource
menting ASSIST, including finances,
equipment, facilities, personnel, exper-
tise, organizational relationships and
structure, existing policies for tobacco
state developed site-specific numerical
objectives that expressed the number of
persons in the state who would quit
smoking as a result of interventions and
the number of persons who would not
statewide coalition approach was a rela-
tively new concept in health promotion,
NCI undertook a study to examine how
this approach was implemented in dif-
ferent contexts. The study was based on
Tobacco Control
(SoTC) Efforts
Efforts
Behavior
Initiatives
Source: Adapted from Stillman, F., A. Hartman, B. Graubard, E. Gilpin, D. Chavis, J. Garcia, L.-M. Wun,
W. Lynn, and M. Manley. 1999. The American Stop Smoking Intervention Study: Conceptual framework and
evaluation design. Evaluation Review
in Prevalence
33
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
a conceptual framework of factors hy-
pothesized to influence coalition effec-
tiveness. The factors represent specific
coalition characteristics identified in a
review of research on community coali-
tions. A coalition advisory group of 11
individuals selected for their expertise in
assessing or developing community coa-
litions made recommendations for the
study design. The underlying theoretical
proposition was that certain environ-
mental, structural, and functional char-
acteristics of coalitions are indicative of
their intermediate success as well as
their long-term effectiveness. The as-
sessment focused on the concept and ex-
perience of using state and local
coalitions to implement tobacco control
activities rather than on the relative per-
formance of individual sites.
18
(See
chapter 4 for more details.)
Tobacco Use Supplement for the Current
Population Survey. For a national measure
of outcome goals for smoking preva-
lence, the committee chose the Current
Population Survey (CPS) with its state-
specific estimates on smoking. The CPS
is a household sample telephone survey
of the civilian noninstitutionalized popu-
lation. Since 1950, the U.S. Bureau of
the Census has conducted the CPS at
regular intervals to provide estimates of
employment, unemployment, and other
characteristics of the general labor force,
the population as a whole, and various
other subgroups of the population. It
was chosen for ASSIST because it is the
only ongoing survey funded by the fed-
eral government that provides a suffi-
cient state-level sample size to compare
all states and individual states.
To acquire state-specific year-by-year
data, NCI contracted the Bureau of the
Census to conduct a Tobacco Use Sup-
plement to the CPS that could be used to
compare data over time and across
states. The supplement was designed to
closely mirror other surveys for compa-
rability. It includes questions about atti-
tudes toward tobacco use as well as
individual patterns of smoking and using
smokeless tobacco. The supplement con-
sists of 40 self-report items that are
asked of persons who are 15 or older re-
siding in sampled households.
The baseline survey was conducted in
three waves during a 1-year period
September 1992, January 1993, and
May 1993with approximately 115,000
individuals being interviewed for each
wave. The surveys were repeated during
the same months in 1995 to 1996 and
1998 to 1999. Computer-generated ta-
bles summarizing national and state-spe-
cific baseline findings were distributed
to the ASSIST states, as were data tapes
that included all of the baseline data.
19,21
Cigarette Consumption Data. Another
important source of data for tracking the
effect of ASSIST was per capita ciga-
rette consumption. These estimates,
which are derived from tobacco sales tax
data, are more sensitive than prevalence
data to intervention effects. National and
state-level per capita consumption data
for cigarettes are available on a monthly
basis and were included in the overall
outcome evaluation.
22
Legislative Databases. The State Cancer
Legislative Database, developed and
maintained since 1989 by NCI, is the pri-
34
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
mary data source for measuring changes
in state tobacco control policies. (The
Americans for Nonsmokers Rights
[ANR] data are referenced in chapter 6.)
The database includes information about
all enacted state legislation related to can-
cer control, including tobacco control,
breast cancer early detection, cervical
cancer early detection, diet modification,
state-of-the-art treatment, and selected
topics on environmental and occupational
exposures. Information about each law,
including an abstract describing the pro-
visions of each law, is maintained in a
single computerized record.
To meet the needs of the ASSIST
evaluation, the database was expanded
to enable annual tracking of state legis-
lation in each of the four policy areas:
1. Clean indoor air
2. Restricted access to tobacco by
minors
3. Economic disincentives to discourage
the use of tobacco products
4. Restricted advertising and promotion
of tobacco
The database also tracks legislation
related to smokers rights. (The database
can be accessed at www.scld-nci.net.)
Similarly, the ANR Foundation main-
tains a database that tracks information
on tobacco-related legislation and poli-
cies at the local level. This data source
was used in the evaluation to assess the
outcomes of ASSIST activities in com-
munities, especially clean indoor air and
tobacco taxes.
ASSIST Newspaper Clippings Database. A
study was designed to systematically
track local newspaper coverage of tobac-
co-related policy issues during the 6-
year implementation period of ASSIST.
The expectation was that tobacco control
advocacy would increase in general
across the United States during the
project period, with the ASSIST sites
taking the lead in comprehensiveness
and frequency of activity, and that this
pattern would be reflected in the print
media. Burrelles Press Clipping Service
was contracted to collect the print arti-
cles for the media analyses, and ASSIST
Coordinating Center staff categorized
the articles for relevance to type of
smoking policy (clean indoor air, restric-
tion of access by minors, economic in-
centives, advertising and promotion of
tobacco, or miscellaneous), point of
view (protobacco control, antitobacco
control, or neutral), origin of story (na-
tional or local), type of article, and
whether the article appeared on the front
page of the newspaper. Quarterly reports
were produced summarizing the fre-
quency of articles in each category and
comparing ASSIST sites with non-
ASSIST sites. (See chapter 5 for a de-
tailed description.)
The Selection of States
O
n January 15, 1990, NCI issued its
request for proposals for tobacco
control programs from state health agen-
cies in collaboration with state-level af-
filiates of the American Cancer Society
(ACS). More than 35 states initially re-
sponded by submitting proposals. NCI
formally reviewed all proposals for their
technical merits, which included their
proposed infrastructure and ability to
mobilize community coalitions. The
35
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
proposals were reviewed in three review
meetings, and 23 were judged to be tech-
nically acceptable.
23
However, technical
merit was only one of several criteria ap-
plied in the award process.
The process of reviewing and scoring
the proposals raised a complex decision
problem: how to follow a process for
making awards among the competing
proposals that not only would consider
technical merit and cost, but also would
balance other considerations critical to
the long-term viability and effectiveness
of tobacco prevention and control. Those
considerations included representing the
United States geographically and ethni-
cally in the states to be chosen for the
ASSIST project. To address the problem,
the director of NCIs Division of Cancer
Prevention and Control engaged the ser-
vices of NCIs Applied Research Branch
to develop a mathematical optimization
model for making ASSIST project fund-
ing decisions that would take into ac-
count various configurations of three
major considerations: technical merit,
cost, and secondary criteria mentioned
in the request for proposals. The model
was to provide a process both for scor-
ing the proposals and for ranking them.
23
Experts in the division were involved
in a modified Delphi approach (a pro-
cess of interviewing and group tech-
niques to acquire input) to determine
which criteria to include in the model
and the relative weight of their values
(see the Hall et al. article for details on
the modifications).
23
From these experts,
in a series of input formats, it was deter-
mined that geographical distribution was
an unambiguous concept needing no fur-
ther specification except that three states
from each of the Census Bureaus four
regions would be an appropriate standard.
In contrast, the criterion of smoking preva-
lence had numerous interpretations. The
main question was whether states should
be selected according to overall smoking
rates (states with large numbers of
smokers) or according to how smokers
in the states were statistically distributed
by demographics (e.g., socioeconomic
status, ethnic group, age) and historical
factors (e.g., rate of decline of smoking
prevalence between 1985 and 1989).
The resulting three constraints were set
for the model:
1. At least 2 states would be chosen
from each quartile of the distribution
of smoking rates across the 50 states
and the District of Columbia.
2. At least 2 states would be chosen
from each quartile of the distribution
of decline in smoking rates for the
preceding few years across the 50
states and the District of Columbia.
3. The proportions of African Americans
and Hispanics/Latinos in state
populations would be assessed as
more important than the absolute
numbers.
23
Although the ranking of the proposals
according to technical merit was to be
given primary importance in the award
assessments, the constraints also figured
into the formula.
In October 1991, NCI awarded con-
tracts to 17 state health departments to
partner with their state-level ACS affili-
ate and other community organizations
to design and implement statewide pub-
lic health interventions based on the
ASSIST conceptual framework. The
36
M o n o g r a p h 1 6. A S S I S T
of health departments for those funds
mitment to protect and promote the pub-
institutional partnerships to accomplish
their goals, access to priority popula-
a third of the U.S. population and close-
million people of Hispanic/Latino or
other ethnic minority groups.
20
In a press release announcing the con-
phasized the role of communities in the
ASSIST project:
community-based coalitions through-
change attitudes about smoking and
counter the sinister marketing strate-
24
states that were awarded contracts are
highlighted in figure 2.4. The eligibility
was appropriate because of their com-
lics health, experience working in
tions, and guaranteed longevity. Com-
bined, the population of the ASSIST
states was 91 million people, more than
ly reflecting the total American popula-
tion in ethnic and geographic diversity.
The ASSIST population included more
than 10 million African Americans and 7
tract awards on October 4, 1991, U.S.
Department of Health and Human Ser-
vices Secretary Louis W. Sullivan em-
What sets ASSIST apart from other
government antismoking programs is
its emphasis on the development of
out entire states. Ultimately, it will be
our communities and individual Amer-
icans that decide how best to tackle
their tobacco problems. ASSIST will
empower them by providing the infor-
mation and help that they need to
gies of the tobacco industry.
Figure 2.4. States Awarded ASSIST Contracts
37
I
2. T h e C o n c e p t u a l F r a m e w o r k
Time to Act
n summary, the ASSIST conceptual
framework casts tobacco use as a pub-
lic health problem and presents tobacco
use as a social behavior; therefore, to-
bacco use is an issue that can be effec-
tively addressed only at a population
level through a combination of societal
and individual interventions. In the late
1980s and early 1990s, the ASSIST
model represented a major change in
perspectivea paradigm shiftand
changed the orientation of tobacco con-
trol across the United States.
All of the pre-ASSIST preparations
were complete by October 1991. NCI had
completed all the important processes:
1. Clearly describing the ASSIST
project as a conceptual framework
2. Writing a request for proposals based
on that framework
3. Releasing the request for proposals
and receiving the proposals from the
states
4. Reviewing the proposals and
awarding 17 contracts
5. Awarding a contract for a coordinat-
ing center to provide technical
assistance and training to the states
The principal mechanisms and the
major forces were all in place. It was
time to bring the ASSIST partners to-
gether and begin. The first task for the
partners, as described in chapter 3, was
to clarify and solidify the operational in-
frastructure and establish linkages
among the participants.
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39