An initial assessment of the consumer demand roundtable: Results and promise

An initial assessment of the National Tobacco Cessation Collaborative's (NTCC) 2005-2007 Consumer Demand Roundtable (CDR) was conducted in 2008 to assess the results and products of CDR, and to offer recommendations to guide ongoing NTCC efforts to expand the demand, reach, and use of effective tobacco-cessation treatments.

The evaluation was a small, retrospective, descriptive study, primarily using in-depth telephone interviews, supplemented by a review of CDR agendas, products, and web-based participant surveys. A sample of 30 tobacco-cessation leaders who had participated in at least one CDR meeting or conference was interviewed in May and June of 2008.

Specific products implemented or influenced by CDR were identified, and organized by its six core strategies. Almost all respondents reported that the CDR was successful in its first goal to generate new ways of thinking about increasing demand for chronically underused evidence-based quit-smoking treatment, providing concrete examples of ways they had infused CDR concepts into the work of their organizations. The development of new products and communication messages suggested some progress in meeting the goal of identifying and catalyzing feasible innovations in treatment design, promotion, research, practice, and policy.

Results suggest that the CDR, conceived as a "think tank" for the tobacco-cessation field, made sizable progress, especially in shifting the field to a new way of thinking. Continued leadership, funding, and proactive, sustained communication are needed to ensure these new innovations are further tested, implemented, and sustained. A longer-term follow-up evaluation to measure this impact is recommended.