Toward totally smokefree schools and beyond: the Crown Public Health Smokefree Schools Grant Program

A three-year small grants scheme in Canterbury and the West Coast, New Zealand aims to influence the health promoting climate of schools by adopting totally smokefree policies. The Smokefree Environments Act of 1990 established the legal imperative for school policies. The principles of the Treaty of Waitangi and the strategies of the Ottawa Charter provide the programmatic and evaluation framework. Evaluation indicators include the organizational and policy context, status of school smoking policies, reasons for participation, stakeholder involvement, the value of additional funding, and the extent of media coverage. Partnerships among local smokefree partners, schools and whanau/communities, and between the health and education sectors are a priority. Interim findings indicate the Crown Public Health Smokefree Schools Grant program has positively influenced policy development toward totally smokefree schools. Based on these results and the changing environment, the smokefree efforts are being integrated into the broader context of health promoting schools.