{"id":11770,"date":"2019-09-25T10:36:15","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T14:36:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/countertools.wpengine.com\/?p=11770"},"modified":"2024-02-14T12:37:50","modified_gmt":"2024-02-14T17:37:50","slug":"strong-evaluation-data-for-point-of-sale-strategies-will-come-from-communities-like-yours-and-leaders-like-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/countertools.org\/blog\/strong-evaluation-data-for-point-of-sale-strategies-will-come-from-communities-like-yours-and-leaders-like-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong evaluation data for point of sale strategies will come from communities like YOURS and leaders like YOU!"},"content":{"rendered":"
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LaPointe brothers offering a sacred tobacco blessing at opening ceremony<\/p><\/div>\n

At the National Conference on Tobacco or Health (the \u201cor\u201d leads me to admiringly call it the \u201cultimatum conference\u201d) this year, there was a strong showing of breakout sessions focused on point of sale (POS) strategies for tobacco control. Of course, at Counter Tools, we\u2019re all about POS and we were thrilled about this focus.<\/p>\n

One need that has always been a challenge for POS work is clear evaluation data showing the efficacy of POS strategies. Most of our work is based on the evidence that exposure to an unhealthy retail environment is bad for us, and theoretically, changing that environment could reduce the damage on our health. It\u2019s likely that we won\u2019t have these data for several years to come, as the effect of environmental strategies on behaviors such as initiation and successful quit attempts, and outcomes such as reduced burden of disease, will take a long time to be evident. However, it is crucial that the public health community be forward thinking about these kinds of outcomes so that we can collect relevant data now, and use those data to see change over time after interventions are in place.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re considering a POS strategy, some data points that you should make sure to collect now (before intervention!) are:<\/p>\n