Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and Smoke-Free Families National Dissemination Office University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Leah Ranney, PhD, Cathy Melvin, PhD, MPH, and Catherine Rohweder, DrPH Background: We evaluated the collaborative efforts and methods used by the National Partnership to Help Pregnant Smokers Quit. Launched in May 2002, the National Partnership is a diverse coalition of over 60 leading philanthropic, health, business and government organizations dedicated to getting pregnant women the help they want and the support they need to quit smoking and stay smoke-free. The National Partnership adopted, and is implementing, an Action Plan to provide proven clinical and community-based interventions to every pregnant smoker in the United States. Representatives from partner organizations formed six working groups to implement evidence-based strategies to help pregnant women quit smoking: 1.Offering Help through the Health Care System 2.Using the Media Effectively 3.Harnessing Resources in Communities and Worksites 4.Capitalizing on State and Federal Funding and Policies 5.Promoting Research, Evaluation and Surveillance 6.Reaching out to States to Provide Technical Assistance Representatives from these working groups identified a core set of objectives and established benchmarks to gauge their progress. On monthly conference calls, they develop, implement, and support activities to move toward their benchmarks. Using MS Access, we monitored and recorded all communications, strategies, actions, and products for each working group. Data on select benchmarks illustrate the National Partnership’s progress on a range of activities designed to increase the accessibility of prenatal smoking cessation services, including provider training materials and toolkits for expanding Medicaid coverage and communities/worksites. These documents substantiate the progress of the National Partnership and illustrate how partnerships between health services and community organizations can work to accomplish shared goals. Methods: Dates, organizations, representatives, and minutes from the teleconferences are entered into the database, data are extracted by various queries and reports synthesizing data from working group calls are generated. These allow the National Partnership to evaluate and document working group progress toward their benchmarks. Results: Since May 2002, forty-three partner organizations (Partners) and 97 of their representatives voluntarily participated on 123 conference calls and assisted in developing 44 products. On each of the conference calls, an average of 6 Partners participated and approximately 3 activities or strategies were discussed. Most Partners had 1-2 members participate on a working group. Several key partner organizations participated on a high number of working group calls such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (77 calls), March of Dimes (66 calls), and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (39 calls). The National Partnership benchmarks were achieved through product development, and 10 out of 11 National Partnership objectives were reached by the end of Implications The National Partnership’s progress on a range of activities designed to increase the accessibility of prenatal smoking cessation services serves as a model for how partners from health service and community organizations can effectively work together to accomplish shared goals. Group type: OutreachCall Date: 2/23/2004# Orgs: 5# Products: 1 Call/Mtg Call# Activities: 3# Objectives: 1 Organizations Centers for Disease Control and PreventionAbby Rosenthal Centers for Disease Control and PreventionCarole Rivera Smoke-free Families National Advisory CommitteeDianne Barker Association of State and Territorial Health OfficialsKristen Tertzakian Centers for Disease Control and PreventionKaren Siener Association of Maternal and Child Health ProgramsSara Gordon Smoke Free FamiliesCathy Melvin Activities The group is looking into providing CEUs for the state outreach calls. The group agreed to continue to use the presentations first and questions later format for future state out reach calls. The group will check on the possibility of opening the calls up to a broader audience and the consequences of that action. Specifically, the cost and ability of the group to manage the calls. Objectives Met OutreachTo develop and execute a plan for helping states implement programs and policies to address the needs of pregnant and parenting smokers Products The fifth teleconference call was entitled, "Working with Healthcare Providers To Encourage Pregnant Smokers to Quit. Healthcare Working Group Objective Research Working Group Objective Media Working Group Objective Community & Worksite Working Group Objective Policy Working Group Objective Collaborate with American Indian and Alaska Native organizations to increase outreach, training and intervention capacity for providers who work within those communities. Improve monitoring of the prevalence of smoking and the use/provisions of proven cessation services during pregnancy Increase awareness among pregnant smokers that effective cessation services are available. Increase the number of employers offering health care and cessation coverage for pregnant smokers and assuring smoke-free workplaces. Increase awareness among pregnant smokers that effective cessation services are available. Native American Poster Funded Research Database Ad on BabyCenter.com Community & Worksite Tool Kit Nation-wide Technical Assistance Calls State Outreach Working Group Objective Develop and execute a plan for helping states implement programs and policies to address the needs of pregnant and parenting smokers Medicaid Coverage Tool Kit Database Report Measuring Progress Towards National Partnership Benchmarks: Process Evaluation Results