Philippe Boucher's Rendez-vous with . . . Louise Labrie


Rendez-vous with . . . Louise Labrie

Coordinator for "Le defi j'arrete, j'y gagne", Quit and Win in QuÈbec Province
Public Health Department of MontrÈal-Center
MontrÈal, QuÈbec, Canada
louiselabrie@mac.com
www.defitabac.qc.ca

By Philippe Boucher


Rendez-vous 132
Saturday, March 2 2002

PB : Thank you Louise for accepting our rendez-vous.
May I ask you to introduce yourself ?

Louise Labrie: My name is Louise Labrie, I am a health promotion specialist with the public health department of MontrÈal-Center. I have been active in tobacco control for 15 years. It is a real passion. I have been involved with the making of several anti-tobacco media campaigns for the QuÈbec Province Health Department.

I am also a volunteer with the QuÈbec Division of the Canadian Cancer Society. I am a spokesperson for the Division about tobacco control issues, especially tobacco sales to minors.

For the last 3 years my priority task has been coordinating the Quit and Win contest in QuÈbec. Here it's called "le défi j'arrete, j'y gagne!".

Q1. Did you get the Quit and Win idea from the contests organized in other places? Who initiated this event in QuÈbec?

Louise Labrie: I picked up the idea during the world conference in Paris in 1994 where I met Pekka Pusska who had created Quit and Win in Finland (see Rendez-vous 90 with Pekka on February 13, 2001). We were inspired by their experience and by the experience of the Public Health Department of the Outaouais Region in QuÈbec. They organized a regional Quit and Win five years in a row, from 1995 to 1999 and they stopped when we launched the first contest for the whole of QuÈbec, in 2000.

Our contest was initiated by a group of health professionals, the Acti-menu group, founded by two physicians, Louis Gagnon and Gilles Pineau. The main partners of the contest are the Canadian Cancer Society, the various local and regional Public Health departments, the QuÈbec Health Ministry, Health Canada (the Federal Health Department) and the QuÈbec Council on Tobacco or Health (advocacy coalition).

Q2. The contest reaches a significant number of people. How do you advertise? What is your budget? Who contributes?

Louise Labrie: The contest targets all smokers but this year we'll focus on the 18-25 year old age group. We know more women register (60%). In 2000, 20,400 smokers registered, 23,250 in 2001 and as for 2002 we have reached 25,000. Each smoker is supported by a non-smoker who also registers. Smokers have to quit (and register) between January 1st and February 28 then stay quit at least for 6 weeks, from March 1st to April 11.

There is a big media campaign: ads on the radio, ads on buses (and within the buses), billboards, posters in the metro, in bars, restaurants, hospitals, gyms, schools, etc. We mail promotional material to 40,000 corporations. There are ads and articles in the press. 4 regions show TV ads. We have several spoke-persons coming from different backgrounds who promote the contest. The public awareness is high: spontaneously 40% of the people surveyed are aware of the contest going on.

All the media advertising and promotion is given for free: it is worth more than $5 million.

Our $600,000 budget comes from 3 main sources: $200,000 from the Federal Government, $200,000 from the Provincial Government, $200,000 from the private sector (pharmaceutical and other companies). In 2002 we have invested $100,000 to target specifically the 18-25 group.

We are a multidisciplinary team. Nobody works full time. The project is managed by a team of 8: 2 physicians, one marketing specialist, one coordinator, one person in charge of logistics, one person in charge of the website and development, one content writer, one PR person and free-lancers as needed like the attorney supervising the procedure for the awards. We also have the support of the people in charge of tobacco control in the local health departments and the volunteers from the Canadian Cancer Society.

There is a drawing at the end of the contest. The first prize is a Toyota Corolla (value $20,000), the second prize is a trip for two (value $5,000), third prizes are two saving accounts (worth $5,000 each). A sports store also offers 16 vouchers worth $1,000 and another 16 worth $250.

Q3. What info did you get from the evaluation study? Did that lead to changes?

Louise Labrie: We have increased the support provided to smokers with a quitline. We send a written confirmation to each participant. A cessation package is distributed via a partnership with a chain of drugstores. Our website offers advice, forums, listserves to receive regular supportive emails, etc. 3,000 participants were surveyed in 2000: 66% had quit for six weeks; 6 months later 36% had remained smoke-free and one year later they were 28%.

Q4. The contest is a once a year event. Have you considered organizing more than one contest in the year? The tobacco industry is constantly promoting its products. Shouldn't cessation be promoted on a permanent basis?

Louise Labrie: We have received requests to that effect. We are thinking about it.

Q5. Are there similar contests organized in other provinces in Canada? Are you in touch with other Quit and Win groups?

Louise Labrie: We are in touch with the Quit and Win people in Ontario and with the organizers of the International Quit and Win sponsored by WHO. We are available for any contact with groups interested by developing their own Quit and Win events.

Q6. Is there anything else you would like to add?

Louise Labrie: If you want your Quit and Win to succeed your budget has to be adequate, you need strong partnerships (from the media, the private sector and the health community), a competent staff (well versed in promotional techniques and about tobacco issues). You need people in charge of the promotion at the local level in all the places you want to reach.

PB: Thank you Louise for taking the time to be with us today.

P.S: Rendez-vous 124 with Todd Warnick (January 3, 2002) was also centered on a Quit and Win contest (in Kentucky).

Rendez-vous is supported by a contract from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
This document's URL is: http://www.tobacco.org/News/rendezvous/labrie.html

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