Project Directors: Robert McDermott, PhD and Moya Alfonso, PhD
Location: Sarasota County, Florida

This project was a joint effort between USF, the Sarasota County Health Department, and a community board representing 35 organizations and citizens "at-large" to prevent the initiation of smoking and alcohol consumption among middle school students. The community board adopted the name Community-Based Prevention Marketing (CBPM) Community Advisory Committee (CAC) to emphasize its interest in using the CBPM framework. The CAC worked with FPRC personnel to conduct formative research with youth and parents and used the results to develop a comprehensive social marketing plan. The multifaceted marketing plan was a blueprint for program development directed at the primary audience -- middle school students -- and secondary audiences -- middle school students' parents, teachers and administrators, and other youth-oriented community organizations.

The resulting intervention, the Believe in All Your Possibilities campaign, included six intervention strategies:

1. law enforcement tobacco and alcohol citations;
2. tobacco education for youth who receive a tobacco citation;
3. 100% smoke free schools;
4. a parent-oriented video addressing parents' self-efficacy for communication and control of children's tobacco and alcohol use;
5. use of a Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test module on tobacco and alcohol for teachers; and
6. a teen theater production (End of Summer) to enhance refusal skills.

A mini-grant process was also implemented for community agencies to seek funds to develop and implement activities that complemented the social marketing plan. Though specific activities were funded by numerous community sources, they are linked by the social marketing plan to form a comprehensive, coordinated behavior change intervention.

Sarasota Prevention Research Center Staff

• Susan Calkins, Prevention Marketing Coordinator
• Liz Bumpus, Divison Director for Promotion and Planning
• William Little, Administrator

Sarasota Community Advisory Committee

• Sarasota Community Advisory Committee
• Sarasota Youth Tobacco Community Advisory Committee Principles

Downloadable PDF Files

• Youth Focus Group Training
• Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention Marketing Plan for Youth
• Prevention of Tobacco and Alcohol Use Among 6th - 10th Grade Youth in Sarasota County
• Youth & Alcohol Strategy Workbook
• Youth & Tobacco Strategy Workbook