Health Communications in Tobacco Prevention and Control

This user guide focuses on how comprehensive tobacco control programs can deliver effective health communications. Best Practices for Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs—2014 recommends mass-reach health communication interventions as powerful tools for preventing the initiation of tobacco use, promoting and facilitating cessation, and shaping social norms related to tobacco use. Health communications help achieve tobacco control goals by building support for policy and program efforts, countering the tobacco industry’s extensive advertising and promotion, and reaching large audiences to shift social norms around tobacco use. This guide offers program staff and partners information on how to effectively develop and implement paid media, earned media, social media, and other program communications to support tobacco control efforts.