Tobacco Prevention and Control Program

Focus Group Findings

Project description:
In March of 2018, Comunidades Unidas in collaboration with the Utah Department of Health conducted
a total of four (4) focus groups with community members of Glendale with zip codes pertaining to the
84104, 84119 and 84120 areas. Participants were divided into two (2) types of focus groups based on
age range. Hence, two (2) groups were composed of “Adults” regarded as individuals from ages 21 and
over. The remaining two (2) groups were composed of “Youth” regarded as individuals between the
ages of 13 to 19 years of age. A total of 40 individuals participated in these focus groups.

Goals: This assessment is aimed at helping Comunidades Unidas understand the Glendale community’s:
I.Perceived barriers to access: What concerns are participants facing in the Glendale area?

II. Prioritization of concerns: What concerns do community members prioritize in their area?

III. Experience with civic participation/advocacy: When, how, and why have community members
become engaged in the Glendale area?

IV. Barriers that make civic participation/advocacy difficult for community members: What makes
civic participation easier, conflicting, attractive?

V. Prior knowledge of e-cigarette and tobacco products, consumption, and regulations: What do
community members know and not know about cigarettes and e-cigarettes?

Project authors: Maria Montes (program coordinator), Alejandra Tellez (project intern), Shelsey Olivera
(project intern), Uriel Morales (project intern), Melissa Marulanda (Project intern)

Knowledge about existing issues

Summary: Though adults and youth expressed various commonalities with the issues that concerned
their community, it is clear that adults and youth experience issues differently and as a result the means
through which they become engaged are also different. Ultimately, when adults and youth did intersect
about their concerns it was around school safety and cleaner neighborhoods.

Adult participants expressed being concerned with:

I.Safety around neighborhoods

a. Lack of policing in and around Glendale residences and schools. Participants expressed that
police presence has decreased drastically around Glendale over the last few couple of years. This has led
the community to begin to feel abandoned and
 II. A wider range of low cost health services
a. Specifically pointed to need for dental services for uninsured adults. Participants cited that
though in the past they had been provided with low-cost dental services by the Utah Department of
Health, availability was still very scarce as the program was limited to only a certain number of people
within the community.

III. Access to food

a. Many community members cited that with little available around their neighborhoods, they
were forced to travel to other areas (i.e. Rosepark) to obtain foods. In addition, many community
members do not have access to their own vehicle and depend on either an acquaintance or public
transportation to make their commutes for food.
b. Participants explained that such circumstances can sometimes push them to purchase foods
that aren’t always beneficial for their families in an attempt to get by daily needs.

Youth participants expressed being concerned with:

I.Identity of self and the Latinx experience
a. Prevalent concern for perceived lack of knowledge around their community about the historic
and systematic oppression that minority communities have experienced.

b. Participants expressed that race, gender, age, and ethnic origin are all factors that play a
central role in their lives. As a result of growing up and attending schools that have not
always allowed them to understand, learn, and acknowledge their background they feel
unsupported and often times unwelcome in their own neighborhoods.

c. Thus, for youth participants supporting others that might be facing the same questions
and concerns they have come to face as a result of being Latinx is regarded as highly
important.

II. Gender norms and sexual assault

a. Participants cited not feeling comfortable with their school administration’s handling of sexual
assault and bullying cases. Most felt that little was done by school administrations to prevent and
provide support to victims. As a result, students feel susceptible to attacks and unencouraged from
attending school.

b. In addition, participants argued that an underlying issue that continues to fuel sexual
assault are societal gender norms. Hence, participants expressed that traditional gender
norms continue to be taught at home and school. As a result of ideology that continues
to place a “lesser” value on women, the same group has been prone to sexual assault
within their neighborhoods.

Both, adults and youth, cited being concerned for:

I.School Safety
a. Bullying
i.Bullying prevails as a dominant concern for both adults and youth residents of
the Glendale area. Though students of all ages are susceptible to bullying and
 almost all youth that participated in the focus groups cited being bullied at
least once in the past, the most prominent age groups to face this issue are
predominantly 7 and 8 graders (students 13 to 14 years of age).
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ii.A reluctance to act has been credited to school administrations that have
been cited as doing little to prevent and provide support to victims of bullying.

b. Marijuana use in schools

i.Most adults and youth perceive marijuana as a “gateway drug.” As result,
concern is high for students making use of the substance, particularly in
schools and public spaces.

c. Traffic in and around schools

i.Participants expressed that current construction projects created a hazardous
pedestrian environment due to lack of signage and walking access in the
perimeters of their schools.

II. Cleaner neighborhoods

a. The Jordan River was cited as a common concern for both adults and youth. The harsh
conditions of the riverway and its parameters have led participants to feel as though their community
no longer holds any value among the rest of the Salt Lake Valley.

Effects of these issues:

 High traffic around school that have led to accidents recently.
 Increased rate of crime around community has began to make participants feel unsafe about
walking around their neighborhood
 Concern about the lack of policing: Minors are noticeably making use of substances in public
spaces.
 Latino males are more likely to be profiled by school administration if they dress and talk in
certain ways often being targeted as “gang members.”
 Intergenerational struggles: Youth continue to face the same obstacles that prior generations
faced in the past

Community’s response to current issues

Summary: Participants are somewhat to highly involved with their communities. As a direct result, they
presented a similar level of understanding about their community’s efforts to mend some of the
concerns mentioned previously.
I.Regarding school safety and bullying
a. Parents have engaged through their school’s PTAs to voice their experiences while working with
school administrations to bring support to students.
b. Students have become “mentors” through school programs to students facing difficulty
transitioning into high school.
II.Regarding access to low cost health services
 . Participants have volunteered with community agencies that connect available resources to
those in need of them. Participants expressed having volunteered in collaboration with the UDOH.
III.Regarding cleaner neighborhoods
. Community members have organized on their own within the last three years to clean sections
of the Jordan River.

Perceived barriers and areas of support

Summary: Community members have already engaged in the principles of community organizing as they
have moved others to the issues they have come to see as highly important. However, participants still
face being able to connect shorter or smaller engagement efforts into long term changes that can bring
forth sustained development.
Some areas that require support include:
I.Helping understand how smaller, local level participation can lead to sustained changes
II.Understanding the ins and outs of local government and how it can be used for the wellbeing of the
community. Participants cited under this understanding the electoral process.
III.Understanding the spectrum of civic participation and how even engagement through religious activities
can help advance the narratives of their communities
IV.Providing support to help families with mixed immigration statuses find ways to engage together

Civic participation and community involvement

Summary: Participants frequently volunteer their time at schools, community events, religious functions,
and by sharing information with others about services available. Most participants expressed having
volunteered in the past or currently.
Though most participants expressed participating in volunteer/engagement activities youth were far
more likely to participate in school volunteer/engagement activities while adults were significantly more
likely to participate in religious volunteer/engagement activities.

What motivates participation:

I.Adult participation
a. Is highly based on values. These include faith, love, unity, and the creation of community
b. Adult participants are more likely to engage when they are asked to participate directly,
specially through one-on-one conversations. Most adult participants cited not being asked to participate
directly in the past.
c. Yearn to find active ways to make their current community feel like home despite not always
feeling welcomed in the United States.

II. Youth Participation

a. Is highly based on acknowledgement. Youth expressed needing spaces were race, ethnic origin,
gender and their formations within such paradigms can be openly discussed
b. Youth participants are more likely to engage when they feel heard and the issues they face
become acknowledged.
c. Want to understand how any given [engagement] effort helps alter the historic context under
which minorities have continued to live.
 Barriers to participation
 Participants have not always been asked to engage or volunteer directly.
 Many opportunities to engage take place at times and days that conflict with work and school
schedules.
 Worries about immigration statuses in the current political climate.
 Activities that do not always take into consideration the capabilities of those participating (i.e.
not all participants understand how to use a computer, some may have accessibility needs).

Knowledge about electronic and conventional cigarettes

What is known:
 Conventional cigarettes contain harmful substances that can lead to cancers
 Prevention is the best mechanism to ensure that tobacco use subsides
 Tobacco can help ease youth into substance abuse or drug addiction
 Youth cited that obtaining electronic cigarettes is easy. One participant explained that friends in
the 4 grade were able to acquire them through other friends.
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 Youth state that traditional cigarette use has fallen over the use of vaporizers or electronic
cigarettes

What is not known:

I.Participants overwhelmingly expressed not being concerned about electronic cigarettes
a. They have been exposed to them, many have seen them being used in their neighborhoods but
aren’t ultimately concerned by them. Advertising around the relative safeness of electronic cigarettes
have made adults feel more at ease with the product.

II. Whether electronic cigarettes users must follow the same laws and regulations that are
expected of traditional tobacco smokers.
a. Thus, signage isn’t always clear as to whether electronic cigarettes are also regulated in open
spaces. This has also led many community members to question whether e-cigarettes are harmful at all.

III. How electronic cigarettes look, what flavors are

a. Youth seem to understand more in depth both of these. However, adults had difficulty providing
feedback for the question often not responding.

IV. The difference between cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, and marijuana

a. Adults stated being particularly concerned for the use of cigarettes. However, during the focus
groups many adults often changed between cigarettes and marijuana use during our discussions. This
leads us to believe that community members require more information about both products to better
understand the differences.

V. The legal age for the purchase and consumption of tobacco products..
a. Adults in particular stated having difficulties understanding the legal age for the purchase and
consumption of tobacco products. This is due largely in part of varying regulations (such as that of
alcohol products) that make it difficult for adults to remember the legal age of purchase. In addition,
 community members expressed that variation in the legal requirements and age in their native
countries also confused them.
Next Steps:
VI. Identify program recommendations based on focus group response
a. Such recommendations will help Comunidades Unidas and the Utah Department of Health
update its educational materials used during Tobacco Prevention workshops.
b. Recommendations will also help Comunidades Unidas adapt the approach used to engage
community members around tobacco policy.
VII.Update Tobacco Prevention and Engagement Training based on community assessment
VIII.Engage focus participants in “Vote for 2: Raise your Voice Defend your Rights” nonpartisan voter
education and registration efforts.
IX.Train Promotoras so that they may help lead educational efforts