G’day TIS teams!

In September, I flew down to the beautiful lands of the Wadawurrung People of the Kulin Nation for the PHAA Public Health Conference. With the theme Transforming Healthier Futures: Systems, Solutions and Solidarity, there was plenty of talk about what shapes health and how we can create healthier futures.

I came away with some interesting insights relevant to TIS work. A strong message across the conference was that preventing tobacco and vaping use means looking beyond individual choices to the commercial, digital and social environments that influence behaviour.

Young people, vaping and digital environments

A survey of 131 school staff found that although most had delivered vaping prevention activities, there were gaps in providing brief advice and connecting students who vape with cessation support. Presentations on youth and digital health also caught my attention. A Deakin research team used a digital ‘scanner’ to explore what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people encounter online. While tobacco marketing was relatively uncommon compared to other unhealthy products, there were still examples of the use of nostalgia and humour to engage youth.

Key takeaways:

• Look beyond individual behaviour: address the commercial and social factors shaping tobacco and vape use.
• Keep pace with change: understand new nicotine products, settings and influences.
• Keep communities at the centre: value local leadership, relationships, identity and culture.
• Build the evidence: understand what works in practice and what can be sustained.

Click on the thumbnail to the right to read Connie’s full update.

For more of Connie the Cockie’s updates, visit the Connie’s Tobacco Control News page.