Barriers and Facilitators to Program Sustainability Among State Tobacco Control Programs

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Services Research
• Program Sustainability

Background:

• Public health programs, especially state-level tobacco control programs (TCPs), encounter significant barriers and facilitators impacting their sustainability.
• Program sustainability is crucial for consistent delivery of services and achieving desired health outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze barriers and facilitators to sustainability capacity in state-level TCPs.
• To leverage the Program Sustainability Framework to understand challenges faced by public health programs.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative interview data from the Plans, Actions, and Capacity to Sustain Tobacco Control (PACT) study were analyzed.
• Thematic analysis was conducted on transcribed audio recordings of technical assistance calls.
• The Program Sustainability Framework guided the identification of barriers and facilitators.

Main Results:

• Barriers to sustainability capacity were identified across Organization Capacity, Environmental Support, Partnerships, Communication, and Funding Stability domains.
• Facilitators for action planning and building sustainability capacity were prominent in Strategic Planning, Program Evaluation, Program Adaptation, and Partnership domains.
• This study is the first to detail barriers and facilitators for enhancing sustainability capacity in TCPs.

Conclusions:

• The findings provide critical insights into the factors influencing the sustainability of public health programs.
• Understanding these barriers and facilitators can inform strategies for improving technical assistance and program sustainability.
• This research advances the knowledge base on program sustainability capacity within public health initiatives.