Tobacco Outreach
The UNMC Tobacco Outreach and Prevention Program has been consistently funded by the Tobacco Free Nebraska Program since 2002. This program is geared towards promoting a healthy, tobacco-free lifestyle through educating on the dangers of tobacco and exposure to secondhand smoke while promoting smoke-free homes & apartments as well as making public places and spaces smoke-free. Seeking to prevent and reduce tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke in children, youth, and adults, the program has demonstrated success using a culturally and linguistically sensitive approach. It focuses on the following areas:
- Clean Air: Smoke-Free Public Places and Spaces
- Smoke-Free Homes & Apartments
- Youth Tobacco Prevention
- Community-Capacity Building
In addition to tobacco prevention, the program focuses on healthcare issues related with tobacco use including: tobacco-related diseases, disparities in access to healthcare, and health literacy. UNMC works closely with community agencies, businesses, faith based organizations, anti-smoking groups and coalitions, to educate, collaborate, and promote a tobacco-free society through social norm change.
Center staff are available to help community agencies, businesses, and other organizations to develop tobacco-free and smoke-free policies for multi-unit housing and smoke-free school and business campuses. Technical assistance is provided free of charge.
The center is an active member of the Metro Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition. For more information about MOTAC, please visit the Metro Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition website.
Latinas, Tabaco, y Cáncer
Latinas, Tabaco, y Cáncer was founded in 2005 and is an ongoing community-based holistic health promotion program targeted towards Spanish-speaking immigrant women. It focuses on building community capacity to address health issues where minorities especially Latinos are more likely to be disproportionately represented.
The Latinas, Tabaco, y Cáncer group is engaged to fight tobacco and prevent cancer through education and advocacy. This group of Latinas come together to:
- Increase awareness and education about the dangers of tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke;
- Develop projects to influence the social norms around tobacco use and disease prevention within the Latino community; and
- Promote healthy lifestyles as individual women, wives, mothers, and engaged community members.
The women from the group have been involved in a number of projects including World No Tobacco Day, tobacco trash park clean-ups, development of a series of radio novelas and a Fotonovela, creation of a recipe book, educational presentations, the Smoke-Free Nebraska Quilt, and the Sencillamente Latinas Poetry book. “Entre Amigas” meetings are held in South Omaha every other month.
Smoke-Free Home and Apartment Visits
We are excited about creating more smoke-free housing. The center is available to offer technical assistance and support to both tenants and landlords to establish smoke-free housing policies.
Over the past year, the Center has participated in the LiveWell Omaha Health + Housing work group. The goal of the group is to increase smoke-free housing among voucher and public housing. The Center has been involved with the Omaha Housing Inspectors training that took place in April 2018. We are available to talk about the dangers of tobacco and exposure to secondhand smoke as well as to provide technical assistance to develop plans with both tenants and landlords/property managers to make the property smoke-free.
Participation in Community Activities
The tobacco outreach and prevention program regularly participates in community activities and events, including:
- Binational Health Week Annual Health Fair
- Cinco de Mayo Parade
- Olson Center for Women’s Health, Health Fair
- Omaha Police Department Southeast Precinct S.A.F.E. Event
- PRIDE Parade
- Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure
- Go Red for Women Day
La Voz Latina TV Program
The Center hosts television shows on Expresion Latina TV. The show is streamed on-line and shared in Expresion Latina’s YouTube and Facebook page. The show is designed to educate the Latino community on the harmful effects of tobacco use and secondhand smoke, as well as on opportunities to get involved in promoting lifestyles.
Radio Lobo
The Center has hosted a Spanish-language radio show on Radio Lobo (KBBX 97.7 FM) since 2004. The show educates listeners on tobacco, secondhand smoke, and other initiatives of the Metro Omaha Tobacco Action Coalition. Radio shows are aired on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am.
