To share strategies that community-based organizations have used to engage diverse communities in tobacco control, on March 21, 2013 the APPEAL PROMISE Network hosted a webinar on promoting smoke-free multiunit housing policies with guest speakers Christine Araquel from the People’s Community Organization for Reform and Empowerment (People’s CORE) in Los Angeles, California and Ekta Prakash from CAPI USA in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

To share strategies that community-based organizations have used to engage diverse communities in tobacco control, on March 21, 2013 the APPEAL PROMISE Network hosted a webinar on promoting smoke-free multiunit housing policies with guest speakers Christine Araquel from the People’s Community Organization for Reform and Empowerment (People’s CORE) in Los Angeles, California and Ekta Prakash from CAPI USA in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Ms. Araquel described People’s CORE’s Smoke-Free Apartments Project, which engaged residents in Asian American and Pacific Islander neighborhoods in Central Los Angeles in support of voluntary smoke-free policies in outdoor common areas at their apartment complexes. Ms. Prakash presented on CAPI’s Healthy Homes, Healthy Communities program and its work towards smoke-free policies in Minneapolis public housing, which has diverse residents including African and Asian immigrants and refugees.

Both speakers emphasized that a key step in working with diverse communities was extensive outreach at specific community-specific cultural events and settings, and listening to community concerns. Both People’s CORE and CAPI also included language access as an important part of their work with diverse communities; having staff who could speak Tagalog, Somali, and other appropriate languages and having in-language educational materials – were critical to each projects’ success.

If you were unable to attend the webinar and would like to learn more, the presentation slides are available on the APPEAL website at www.appealforcommunities.org/presentations.

In late February, APPEAL launched “Health Starts…Where We Live, Learn, Work, and Play,” a video contest and activity challenge for youth and young adults. The contest and activity challenge is part of our national effort to promote tobacco-free living, healthy eating, and active living (HEAL) in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities.

In late February, APPEAL launched “Health Starts…Where We Live, Learn, Work, and Play,” a video contest and activity challenge for youth and young adults. The contest and activity challenge is part of our national effort to promote tobacco-free living, healthy eating, and active living (HEAL) in Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) communities.

APPEAL invites all youth (13-17 years old) and young adults (18-24 years old) in the United States and the United States Associated Pacific Islands to submit original, imaginative and creative videos that inspire awareness on how availability of tobacco products, poor access to healthy foods and safe spaces for physical activity affect the ease of making healthy choices for AA and NHPI communities. APPEAL also challenges all youths and adults to make 2013 a year of action by pledging to raise awareness of these issues and organize activities to make changes in their schools, neighborhoods, and communities throughout the year.

“We hope the video contest provides a vehicle for youth to foster their storytelling skills in a medium that majority of their generation relate to in very powerful ways,” stated APPEAL Program Director and Interim Program Manager Rachel Matillano. “We encourage youth to become engaged civic participants and proactive agents of change within their communities who can imagine and pursue their own vision of a positive future.”

The deadline for submissions to the video contest goes through April 30, 2013 and winners will be announced on May 17, 2013. Two $250 cash prizes will be awarded – one to the best entry by a youth (13-17 years old), and the other to the best entry by a young adult (18-24 years old). Entries must follow the official rules which can be accessed by visiting this web link: www.appealforcommunities.org/videocontesthealthstarts.

APPEAL is pleased to welcome new staff to the team.

APPEAL is pleased to welcome new staff to the team. Lisa Fu is returning to APPEAL as Research Manager for our upcoming community-based participatory research project. Nina Kahori Fallenbaum joins APPEAL as Communications Manager, and will focus on Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL) and developing related policy initiatives. APPEAL also welcomes Mey S. Saephan to the team as an intern. We are excited by the energy and expertise that our new staff members will contribute to the team.

Oakland, CA – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is making a special effort to reach out to Asian American smokers as part of their “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign. The CDC will place ads that include a “tip” to encourage smokers to call the Asian Smokers’ Quitline in various Asian-language newspapers across the country. The Asian Smokers’ Quitline is a free nationwide program offering a variety of services: self-help materials, a referral list of other cessation programs, one-on-one counseling over the phone, and a free two-week starter kit of nicotine patches. In-language services are available to those who speak Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese languages.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 1, 2013

Contact: Rod Lew
(510) 318-7814
[email protected]

CDC Continues National Tobacco Education Campaign with a
Special Effort to Target Asian American Smokers

Oakland, CA – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is making a special effort to reach out to Asian American smokers as part of their “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign. The CDC will place ads that include a “tip” to encourage smokers to call the Asian Smokers’ Quitline in various Asian-language newspapers across the country. The Asian Smokers’ Quitline is a free nationwide program offering a variety of services: self-help materials, a referral list of other cessation programs, one-on-one counseling over the phone, and a free two-week starter kit of nicotine patches. In-language services are available to those who speak Chinese, Korean and Vietnamese languages.

Continuing with the success of last year’s national tobacco education campaign, the second series of advertisements in the “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign will feature real people who are living with the effects of smoking-related diseases. The newest ads in the campaign tell the story of how real people’s lives were changed forever due to their smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke. The ads will air starting today until June 23 and they highlight stories of individuals from the African American, Latino, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT), and Native American/Alaska Native communities.

“We applaud the efforts of the CDC to target priority populations including the Asian American community. We know the Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AA and NHPI) community suffers disproportionately from tobacco and we appreciate how the CDC is dedicating resources to addressing tobacco disparities. We hope future efforts are expanded to include Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and other Asian subgroups,” said Rod Lew, executive director of APPEAL.

Research shows that Asian Americans are impacted by tobacco at higher rates. Two national studies, the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS) and the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), show that the prevalence of smoking is extremely high among Vietnamese American and Korean American men – around 1 in 3 are smokers. While there is limited data collected on Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, some of the data suggests that Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander children start smoking at a very early age and that the prevalence of smoking among both men and women in Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities is also very high.

Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), founded in 1994, is a national organization working towards social justice and a tobacco-free Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community. APPEAL’s mission is to champion social justice and achieve parity and empowerment for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders by supporting and mobilizing community-led movements through advocacy and leadership development on critical public health issues. To learn more about APPEAL, please visit: www.appealforcommunities.org. For more information on Asian Smokers’ Helpline, visit their website at: www.asiansmokersquitline.org and for details on the “Tips from Former Smokers” campaign, please visit: www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/