UMass Amherst Awarded $800k State Contract to Evaluate Youth Tobacco and Nicotine Prevention Efforts

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Three University of Massachusetts Amherst research centers have been awarded an $800,000, 19-month contract from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) to evaluate tobacco and nicotine prevention and cessation strategies for young people. The work will be led by the Center for Community Health Equity Research (CCHER), in collaboration with the Center for Program Evaluation, both in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences, and the Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engagement (CRJ) in the College of Education.

In partnership with DPH’s Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program (MTCP), UMass Amherst researchers will work alongside youth researchers to produce recommendations to reduce and prevent tobacco and nicotine use by children and young adults, with a focus on reducing health inequities.

The project is funded through a settlement the state Attorney General’s Office reached with Juul Labs Inc. in 2023, holding the company accountable for its role in fueling the youth vaping epidemic. The commonwealth will receive $41 million as part of the $462 million multistate settlement.

Cigarette smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the U.S., despite substantial declines in prevalence. Inequities in social, economic and environmental determinants of health—such as racism and targeted tobacco industry marketing—have contributed to disparities in commercial tobacco and nicotine use and related health outcomes. Over the past decade, youth nicotine use has also shifted dramatically, with vaping and newer products like nicotine pouches gaining popularity among young people.

“There are two aims of our work. One is the participatory, youth-led evaluation. The other is a larger research project to understand the structural drivers of tobacco and nicotine use among communities that have been systematically targeted by tobacco and nicotine marketing and policy environments,” says Susan Shaw, CCHER director, professor of community health education and principal investigator on the project.

The statewide initiative will engage youth and young adults between the ages of 12 and 25 and representatives of organizations that serve them to:

• Understand the structural and individual factors that drive tobacco and nicotine use among young people.
• Assess the reach and impact of MTCP’s current prevention and cessation strategies, which include media campaigns, youth engagement and cessation programs.
• Develop community-driven and youth-led, actionable recommendations to improve access, utilization and effectiveness of prevention and cessation strategies, particularly for communities that have been historically marginalized and disproportionately targeted by tobacco and nicotine marketing.

The evaluation will convene two groups of community members—one made up of youth and young adults and another with representatives of community organizations and research experts—to guide program selection, evaluation design and recommendations.

“These centers bring complementary expertise in racial justice, youth engagement and health equity,” says Keisha Green, CRJ co-director and associate professor of teacher education and curriculum studies. “MTCP is really leading with an analysis of structural racism, which resonates with the approach that we take to youth development and community health.”

This article was originally published by the UMass Amherst News Office.