Evidence of Sucess

Rescue SCG’s mission is to improve the well being of adolescents through evidence-based, effective, and cost efficient strategies.

 

Rescue SCG’s first clients were fighting teen tobacco use. Nevada* and Virginia have contracted Rescue SCG since 2001 and 2004, respectively, utilizing its unique social change research, strategies, and services.

 

Today, Rescue SCG continues to work with both states, conducting local research, developing experiential & street marketing strategies, and overseeing the evolution of targeted local brands. Both states also contract a local advertising agency, which Rescue SCG guides, providing social change training and overall behavior change strategies to ensure media development and placement follow behavior change research.

 

In each state, surveillance data has shown a significant decrease in teen tobacco use. While the direct impact of each local brand was not measured, unique success in Virginia and Nevada compared to other states during the same period is evidence of the impact of Rescue SCG’s behavior change strategies.

 

 

Today, Nevada and Virginia have the 3rd and 7th lowest teen smoking rates in the US at 13.6% and 15.5%. While this is a noteworthy accomplishment in itself, local funding levels and anti-tobacco policy make the accomplishment incredible.

 

 

 

 

 

Between 1999 (when teen tobacco use began to decline nationwide) and 2007, tobacco prevention funding in Nevada and Virginia was not impressive. Nevada’s average per capita funding level was $1.69 per year, ranking 29th amongst the 43 listed states**. Virginia was only $2.08, ranking 27th.

 

Besides low funding, tobacco excises taxes in Nevada and Virginia were also below the norm. The average excise tax between 1999 and 2007 in Nevada was $0.60, ranking 18th; and in Virginia was $0.14, ranking 41st amongst the 43 listed states.

 

 

 

In addition to both low funding and low tobacco excise taxes, Nevada and Virginia were also not progressive in terms of clean indoor legislation. Nevada’s restaurant smoking ban went into effect in late 2006, and Virginia’s goes into effect in December 2009. Smoking in bars is still legal in both states.

 

 

Tobacco prevention research demonstrates that clean indoor air legislation, higher excise taxes and higher tobacco prevention funding all lower teen tobacco use rates.

 

These factors can explain the low teen tobacco rates in the other states with the 8th lowest teen smoking rates, Utah, Hawaii, New York, Maine, Rhode Island, and California. The lack of these policies & funding levels in Nevada and Virginia make their achievements in teen tobacco use prevention even more significant.

 

 

In fact, not only are rates low in Nevada and Virginia, but these two states also had two of the four highest proportional decreases in teen tobacco use in US. Nevada decreased usage by 58.2% and Virginia by 55.6% between 1999 and 2007.

By looking at the eight states with the largest proportional declines, you can see how unique Nevada and Virginia are. The top state, Maine, had tobacco taxes more than twice as high plus per capita spending over five times as high. New York, a well-known US success story, achieved similar success with teens as Nevada & Virginia, but had both higher taxes and high per capita funding, plus a clean indoor air law in 2003 to support its prevention efforts.

 

Tobacco prevention efforts in Nevada and Virginia were more effective and efficient between 1999 and 2007. While both states utilized local ad agencies, they relied on Rescue SCG as a social change contractor to conduct research, develop brands & strategies, and implement street & experiential marketing. By focusing the agency on media planning instead of overall campaign management, these two states achieved more success.

 

Measured using surveillance data, this initial success is encouraging. But more research is necessary to understand how Rescue SCG’s unique strategies and implementation differ from other strategies. In order to better understand this success, Rescue SCG works with in-house and independent evaluators to measure the impact of behavior change initiatives.

 

Today, cross-sectional and cohort evaluations are being conducted on interventions targeting tobacco-use, violence, and physical activity amongst teens and young adults. Rescue SCG scientists and independent evaluators hope to begin to publish findings in 2011.