Translational practice: Media Beacon

Background and challenges to implementation In high- and low-income countries alike, there is still a global lag between evidence and practice in tobacco control communications. Whether or not it is due to a lack of resources, proper application of health communication science, and use of effective communication material, are often missing from the mass media campaign development process. Intervention or response Vital Strategies' new Media Beacon resource addresses this by providing evidence-based materials that can be easily adapted and licensed from their original owners, at little or no cost, for outcome-oriented mass media campaigns. The site also provides practical guidance on campaign planning and development Results and lessons learnt The resource of video material appropriate for television PSAs is available in Arabic, Bahasa, Chinese, English, French, Hindi, Russian and Spanish. Beacon also holds a library of 92 images available for use on graphic pack warnings, with a special focus on images relevant to the AFRO region. The searchable, user-friendly online resource provides information and evidence-based materials likely to be useful in national-level mass media campaigns targeting behavior and policy change. Conclusions and key recommendations National governing bodies and tobacco control partners should utilize the Media Beacon resource when planning and developing mass media campaigns or implementing graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging, particularly in low- and middle-income countries where this can greatly reduce the cost of production

Soil Health Nexus Provides Research and Extension/Outreach Resources Related to Soil Health and Water

The Soil Health Nexus is a regional, university-led team that is increasing access to research-based soil health knowledge, extension and resources. Members are primarily representatives from Land Grant Universities across the North Central Region of the United States, representatives from the North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program, InterTribal Ag Council, the National Soil Health Partnership, and NRCS. With funding from the North Central Region Water Network in 2015, the team initially started as two separate groups, the Soil Health Nexus and the Manure and Soil Health (MaSH) teams. The now-consolidated team provides research and extension/outreach resources related to soil health and water. The team has representatives from all 12 North Central Region states and will provide long-term organizational support for soil health research and education. To date, the Nexus has developed research, outreach, and resource priorities; produced new extension publications synthesizing and interpreting the latest science on linkages between manure management, soil health, and water quality; developed the a website for soil health communications, which can be found at soilhealthnexus.org. On the website, the team is currently compiling a soil health toolbox filled with resources for those wanting to learn about or to teach soil health topics. Such topics include on-farm soil health research and using manure to improve soil health. The team also hosts professional development opportunities including in-person events and webinars. To maintain and build on the momentum generated by the Nexus, the team wants to continue to grow participation among land-grant researchers, Extension educators, and other partners to ensure access to locally relevant soil health information across the region; maintain and grow our inventory of research, training, and educational resources; and develop regional research projects and publications to promote conservation systems that will lead to the improvement of soil and water quality

The Vietnam Women's Union Testimonial Campaign - “Women create smoke-free homes”

Background and challenges to implementation Almost 16 million Vietnamese adults currently smoke tobacco, including 45.3% of men and 1.1% of women. In Vietnam more women die from tobacco-related disease (9.5%) than smoke cigarettes, suggesting that women suffer disproportionately greater illness and premature death from exposure to secondhand smoke (SHS). Intervention or response The Vietnam Women's Union developed the “Women create smoke-free homes” national initiative to help protect women and children from exposure to SHS throughout Vietnam. Supported by Vital Strategies and Danson Media, a campaign was designed for the initiative, featuring the personal story of a 41 year-old, non-smoking victim of lung cancer, Ms Nguyen Thi Huong, with a call to action to “Protect yourselves and your loved ones”. Pre-testing research was conducted on initial testimonial edits to strengthen communication of Ms Huong's story. The resulting three 30-second ads were launched by the Women´s Union and disseminated from December 2016 to February 2017 through Facebook, with accompanying Facebook posts, radio spots and public relations activities in print, online, radio and television media. Results and lessons learnt The testimonial ads received 4,152,937 views, with Facebook comments mostly from women tagging male partners. A national tobacco campaign evaluation study (n=2022) found 8% of respondents, including 10% of female non-smoker respondents, recalled the testimonial ads unprompted (representing approximately 4.75 million people aged 15-55 years). Of these, 74% of female non-smokers (and 75% of male smokers) reported trying to make their home 'smokefree' and 77% reported trying to persuade others to quit smoking as a result of seeing the ads, while 67% of male smokers reported making a quit attempt after seeing the ads. Conclusions and key recommendations The campaign demonstrates effectiveness of a national Women's Organization communicating personal stories of tobacco-related harm to women. This supports previous evidence of the power of testimonial approaches and points to further potential opportunities for tobacco control communication in Vietnam and other countries