Geoffrey Jalleh

Continuous tracking of the Australian National Tobacco Campaign: advertising effects on recall, recognition, cognitions, and behaviour

Objectives: To relate Australian National Tobacco Campaign advertising to outcome measures such as smokers’ awareness of and reaction to the campaign, and indicators of interest in smoking cessation. Design: Continuous tracking was used to survey random cross sectional samples of the target audience via telephone interviews. Baseline measures were collected preceding each advertising phase, whereafter subjects were interviewed on a weekly basis for the entire period of each phase. Changes in outcomes could thus be inferred on a weekly basis allowing variations in advertising intensity to be monitored for effect. Three phases were evaluated variously in Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide. Subjects: A total of 9033 subjects aged 18–40 years were interviewed. Age and sex of the sample were evenly distributed. Results: In general, it was found that the greater the media weight, the greater the recall and recognition mediated by the message of the advertisement and the creative execution—advertisements with a clear figure ground executional format appeared more memorable than those without, and health effects advertisements were more memorable than those encouraging calls to a quitline. The relationship between various communication effects and media weight was limited by the confounding of prior activities in two of the phases. Conclusions: Advertisements with clear figure ground executional formats and those illustrating health effects of smoking have high memorability. Future campaigns that are continuously tracked are recommended to systematically vary media weight, flighting schedules, and advertisement type, so as to maximise information about these variables and their interactions.

Positive versus Negative Framing of a Hypothetical Infant Immunization: The Influence of Involvement

Framing studies dealing with health messages show mixed results, although a tendency in favor of negative framing. Involvement has been hypothesized to account for these conflicting results. The authors selected a realistic issue (immunization of infants) deemed high or low involving depending on the respondent’s circumstances: women with an infant or who were pregnant or intending to get pregnant in the next 12 months were deemed to be high involved; women in none of these categories were deemed to be low involved. A convenience sample of adult women was presented with a hypothetical “new” immunization that protected infants against respiratory complaints such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Side effects (the common flu) were framed positively (90% chance of no side effects) or negatively (10% chance of side effects). The authors found positive framing to be superior for low-involved respondents, but there was no framing effect for high-involved respondents.

Creating Smoke-Free Environments in Recreational Settings

To facilitate the banning of tobacco industry sponsorship, Australian health promotion foundations were established to provide health sponsorship to sport, arts, and racing organizations. Health sponsorship dollars procure health sponsorship benefits such as naming rights, signage, personal endorsement of a (health) product by a performer or player, and structural controls such as smoke-free policies. Data are presented from surveys and observations of spectators attending events sponsored by the West Australian Health Promotion Foundation (Healthway) and surveys of Healthway-sponsored organizations and the community. The results demonstrate that by using health sponsorship, Healthway increased the prevalence of smoke-free policies in recreational settings, and there was growing support for these policies. There was evidence of good compliance with smoke-free policies, thus reducing exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. The introduction of smoke-free policies in recreational settings has involved working collaboratively with sectors outside of health, taking an incremental approach to change, and gaining the support of stakeholders by communicating evaluation results.

General Practitioners, Prevention and Alcohol - A powerful cocktail? Facilitators and inhibitors of practising preventive medicine in general and early intervention for alcohol in particular: A 12-nation key informant and general practitioner study

This study reports a qualitative investigation of the views of key informants (KIs) and general practitioners (GPs) on the nature and extent of preventive medicine and early alcohol intervention in general practice and the current barriers and potential facilitating factors that influence practice. Sixty-seven KIs and 126 GPs were interviewed in 12 countries. There was strong personal and professional support for GP-delivered preventive medicine in general and early intervention for alcohol problems in particular. Opinions differed on whether national health policies encouraged or discouraged GPs to do more preventive medicine. The two key areas identified for prevention were smoking and alcohol, although all but two countries thought that alcohol was the most difficult area for GPs to discuss with patients. KIs and GPs identified similar barriers and facilitating factors. The main barriers were time constraints, lack of financial reimbursement or incentives and insufficient training and education. The ma...This study reports a qualitative investigation of the views of key informants (KIs) and general practitioners (GPs) on the nature and extent of preventive medicine and early alcohol intervention in general practice and the current barriers and potential facilitating factors that influence practice. Sixty-seven KIs and 126 GPs were interviewed in 12 countries. There was strong personal and professional support for GP-delivered preventive medicine in general and early intervention for alcohol problems in particular. Opinions differed on whether national health policies encouraged or discouraged GPs to do more preventive medicine. The two key areas identified for prevention were smoking and alcohol, although all but two countries thought that alcohol was the most difficult area for GPs to discuss with patients. KIs and GPs identified similar barriers and facilitating factors. The main barriers were time constraints, lack of financial reimbursement or incentives and insufficient training and education. The main facilitating factors were more societal concern about alcohol, proactive patients, more time, financial reimbursement and supportive government policy.

Is there public support for banning smoking in motor vehicles

In Australia and elsewhere, the evidence on adverse health effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) has resulted in legislation restricting smoking in enclosed public places and most workplaces. While there is considerable momentum to restrict smoking voluntarily in Australian homes,1 adults and children continue to be exposed to ETS in motor vehicles.2,3 Advocacy to promote smoke-free cars when children are on board began at least as far back as 1994 in Australia,4 and in 1995 the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council …

Effect of smoke-free policies on the behaviour of social smokers

OBJECTIVE To test the hypothesis that proposed amendments to the Occupational Safety and Health Act making all enclosed workplaces in Western Australia smoke free would result in a decrease in cigarette consumption by patrons at nightclubs, pubs, and restaurants without adversely affecting attendance. DESIGN Cross sectional structured interview survey. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING Patrons of several inner city pubs and nightclubs in Perth were interviewed while queuing for admission to these venues. OUTCOME MEASURES Current social habits, smoking habits, and how these might be affected by the proposed regulations. Persons who did not smoke daily were classified as “social smokers.” RESULTS Half (50%) of the 374 patrons interviewed were male, 51% currently did not smoke at all, 34.3% smoked every day, and the remaining 15.7% smoked, but not every day. A clear majority (62.5%) of all 374 respondents anticipated no change to the frequency of their patronage of hospitality venues if smoke-free policies became mandatory. One in five (19.3%) indicated that they would go out more often, and 18.2% said they would go out less often. Half (52%) of daily smokers anticipated no change to their cigarette consumption, while 44.5% of daily smokers anticipated a reduction in consumption. A majority of social smokers (54%) predicted a reduction in their cigarette consumption, with 42% of these anticipating quitting. CONCLUSIONS One in nine (11.5%) of smokers say that adoption of smoke-free policies would prompt them to quit smoking entirely without a significant decrease in attendance at pubs and nightclubs. There can be few other initiatives as simple, cheap, and popular that would achieve so much for public health.

Predicting attitude towards performance enhancing substance use: A comprehensive test of the Sport Drug Control Model with elite Australian athletes

OBJECTIVES This study presents a comprehensive examination of the Sport Drug Control Model via survey data of elite Australian athletes. DESIGN A cross-sectional nationwide mail survey. METHODS A mail survey of 1237 elite Australian athletes was conducted. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the model. RESULTS Morality (personal moral stance on performance-enhancing substances use), reference group opinion (perceived moral stance of reference group on performance-enhancing substances use) and legitimacy (perceptions of the drug testing and appeals processes) evidenced significant relationships with attitude towards performance-enhancing substances use, which in turn was positively associated with doping behaviour. The model accounted for 81% and 13% of the variance in attitude towards performance-enhancing substances use and doping behaviour, respectively. CONCLUSIONS These findings validate the usefulness of the Sport Drug Control Model for understanding influences on performance-enhancing substances use. Nevertheless, there is a need to survey athletes representing a broader range of competition levels and cross-cultural research to test the models applicability to other populations of athletes.

Increasing mouthguards usage among junior rugby and basketball players

Objective : To evaluate a Western Australian mouthguard promotion campaign, launched at the start of the 1997/98 junior rugby union and junior basketball seasons, aimed at increasing mouthguard usage at competition and training.

The Myth of "Healthism" in Organized Sports: Implications for Health Promotion Sponsorship of Sports and the Arts

Purpose. The study examines the association of involvement in sports and arts with five health risk factors. The aims were to evaluate the argument that promotion of sports alone will achieve health objectives and to assess the suitability of sports and arts populations as targets for health promotion sponsorship. Design. Personal and telephone cross-sectional surveys were performed in Western Australia in 1992 (N = 2629) and 1994 (N = 2031). Setting. Sports and arts venues in Western Australia. Subjects. Random samples of household respondents aged 16 to 69 years. Measures. Measures of association between risk factors and involvement in sports and the arts were adjusted for sex, age, residence, income, and other types of sports/arts involvement. Results. Spectators attending sports events, who were not members of organized sports clubs, were more likely to possess three or more risk factors than nonparticipants (OR = 1.43; 95% CI 1.20–1.70). They were more likely to report cigarette smoking, unsafe alcohol drinking, and poor sun protection practices. Sports club members had a similar profile of risk factors, except that their prevalence of smoking was reduced and they were much less likely to report inadequate physical exercise. The most elevated risk factor in sports populations was unsafe alcohol drinking (OR = 1.81 in club members, 1.88 in spectators, and 2.25 in spectators who were also members). Arts populations were less likely than average to report elevated risk factors, especially in the case of members of arts organizations who also attended arts events (for three or more risk factors, OR = 0.59; 95% CI .45–.75). However, the majority of arts respondents had at least two risk factors. Levels of inadequate exercise in arts populations were the same as those in sports populations. Conclusions. The promotion of sports alone is unlikely to achieve health objectives. Highest priority in the use of health promotion sponsorship funds should be given to the populations attending sports events and involved as members of sports clubs. Investment in arts sponsorship is warranted, but at a lower level than health sponsorship of sports.

Impact evaluation of the Act-Belong-Commit mental health promotion campaign.

Purpose – Act‐Belong‐Commit is a community‐based positive mental health promotion campaign that targets individuals to engage in activities that enhance their mental health while targeting community organisations that provide such activities to promote their activities under the banner of the Act‐Belong‐Commit message. This paper aims to detail key findings from a population impact evaluation of the campaign conducted in 2010.Design/methodology/approach – Computer‐assisted telephone interviews (CATI) were conducted on a randomly selected adult sample (n=1,113) using quotas to obtain equal representation by age and gender. The questionnaire contained items gauging campaign reach, the impact of the campaign on individual beliefs and behaviours, and perceived societal impact of the campaign on mental illness stigma and openness to mental health issues.Findings – The campaign reached 75 per cent of the population. Amongst those exposed to the campaign, 25 per cent reported changing the way they thought about ...