Background: Youth vaping has become a significant public health concern, with increasing numbers of young people using electronic vapor products. Emerging research links vaping not only to nicotine addiction, respiratory problems, and potential long-term effects on brain development, but also to higher rates of anxiety, depression, and trauma-related symptoms. Research on cessation treatments for youth is limited and continues to evolve. Denver Health was awarded funding from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment in late 2024 to identify specific mental health challenges associated with youth vaping, design and implement evidence-informed mental health interventions, provide trauma-informed counseling tailored to youth who vape, and implement and manage nicotine replacement therapy as a core cessation strategy.
Methods: Denver Health staff worked closely with a Youth Advisory Board to center youth input on program development and translate those insights into practical strategies across various settings including medical clinics, school-based clinics, and community organizations.
Data collection included a youth focus group, surveys from youth and young adults (130) and medical and behavioral health providers (86), and provider interviews (24). Qualitative data were thematically analyzed and synthesized into 4 main intervention categories.
Results: Findings emphasized the importance of combining mental health assessment, counseling, Nicotine Replacement Therapy, and other youth-informed strategies to support both mental well-being and vaping cessation for youth and young adults across clinical and community settings. The findings also underscored the need for clinical care settings to provide consistent, routine screening for mental health conditions and vaping use, protect patient confidentiality, and offer ongoing follow-up opportunities to support vaping cessation and address mental health concerns.
Implications: Engagement of youth and healthcare providers highlights the feasibility and value of a collaborative, co-design approach that integrates lived experience with clinical expertise to develop effective programs to support vaping cessation and mental health among youth.
Sedona is a Mother and multidimensional leader who weaves her passions together to cultivate collective healing. She specializes in authentic youth engagement. She has 10+ years of experience in public health, community organizing, and creatively addressing systemic inequities. Sedona... Read More →
BACKGROUND: Data equity is key to advancing health equity. Intentional oversampling or priority populations paired with shared decision making with communities can support the collection of more inclusive and meaningful data that reflects the values, cultures, and strengths of the communities we seek to represent.
METHODS: To inform programs and policies that advance health equity for birthing people and families, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment (CDPHE) Baby & You Program surveys Coloradans at four time points during the first three years postpartum. The program’s dedicated state funding and non-prescriptive mandate provides unique flexibility to share power and be guided by community needs. To this end, Baby & You has democratized its survey and data product development processes (e.g., open calls for survey proposals, open & flexible participation for survey development, partner-led data product development, compensation for community participation)
RESULTS: Since 2023, Baby & You has convened 166 people over 38 working meetings to co-develop surveys and data products; co-hosted a retreat and community discussion for Black birthing people; and collaborated on a Native community baby shower and discussion. Baby & You collaborated with partners and community to develop four program surveys, including a new supplement on birth experiences. In evaluations, 100% of participants agreed that their opinions/perspectives were respected and helped shape survey content, their time was well spent, and they would choose to participate again. We completed our first collaborative data product development process in 2025, resulting in a report on perinatal mental health for healthcare/legislative decision-makers. In 2026, we are hosting community data chats among priority populations.
IMPLICATIONS: Building a community-led data collection system within a government context takes resources, time, commitment, flexibility, diplomacy, transparency, and humility, but can yield more meaningful data through trusting, reciprocal relationships with partners and community.
Background: Health equity initiatives in Colorado are navigating mounting uncertainty due to shifts in public funding and the social safety net. In September 2025, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Office of Health Equity sustained a significant budget reduction to its Health Disparities and Community Grant program, which supports 27 grantees statewide to deliver projects that advance health equity. The Office pivoted from an external evaluation vendor to an internally led evaluation focused on grantee-responsiveness. This presentation reports on the redesign process and examines how its new evaluation strategies strengthened program implementation and adaptiveness amid ongoing uncertainty.
Methods: To inform this redesign, the Office conducted several interviews to understand the limitations of the prior evaluation and identify ideas for improvements. Interviews revealed that reporting processes were burdensome, ambiguous, and did not always capture grantee projects. The Office then comprehensively redesigned the evaluation plan, protocols, and tools. For example, evaluators replaced written progress reports with video calls and created a collaborative data collection process using a living, mixed-methods form. The Office also provided technical assistance to help grantees define success, ensuring metrics became more useful and reflective of project goals. The Office’s evaluators conducted extensive data quality assurance using a rubric to assess criteria such as completeness, validity, and community responsiveness. The team then conducted data remediation and delivered tailored technical assistance for grantees with lower evaluation capacity.
Results: The first year of implementation substantially improved grantee satisfaction and data quality. This redesign allowed the Office to fulfill its evaluation aims while also enhancing grantee evaluation capacity.
Implications: This collaborative model demonstrates that state grantmaking evaluations can be reimagined to be more responsive to grantees and shifting circumstances without sacrificing methodological rigor. The presentation concludes with lessons to inform more equitable evaluation in uncertain times.
Background: A growing body of research demonstrates that the human-animal bond (HAB) influences physical and mental health and health-related behaviors. However, prevailing Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) frameworks do not account for this factor, despite its influence on care access, housing stability, and system engagement. This session examines how the HAB functions as both an independent influence on health outcomes and a modifier within established SDoH domains, and explores the implications of its omission for public health systems.
Methods: This session synthesizes interdisciplinary research on the human-animal bond and health outcomes, including a recent qualitative study on how SDoH shape access to veterinary and human services, alongside insights from AlignCare’s multi-year pilot model.
Results: Findings indicate that the HAB is associated with health behaviors, resilience, and social connection, while also shaping care-seeking and engagement with services. Across sources, it functions as a protective influence and a constraint under conditions shaped by economic instability, housing limitations, and access to care. When systems do not account for this dynamic, individuals may delay or forgo care, encounter barriers to housing and services, or face trade-offs that negatively affect health outcomes. Recent policy developments in Colorado reflect this emerging recognition.
Implications: Failure to account for the HAB may contribute to gaps in service delivery and inequities in access to care, particularly for populations facing structural barriers. Integrating this factor into public health frameworks offers an opportunity to improve system alignment, strengthen cross-sector collaboration, and enhance care accessibility. These approaches have implications for improving health outcomes, reducing system inefficiencies, and advancing more coordinated models of care.
Additional time is requested to support application of session concepts to participants’ practice settings. Participants will engage in reflection and small-group discussion to identify where the HAB intersects their work and assess system gaps within existing programs and policies.
Background/Purpose: Public opinion polling can be a valuable tool for advancing public health policy initiatives, yet many advocates and organizations are uncertain about when and how to effectively incorporate polling into campaign strategy. This session will explore how polling and message research can support policy change efforts across a range of public health issues, including tobacco prevention, environmental justice, rural healthcare access and community health initiatives in Colorado.
Methods: Presenters will share case studies and practical examples from Colorado-based public health and policy campaigns that used polling to guide strategy, develop persuasive messaging, generate earned media, and educate policymakers. The session will feature insights from a leading Colorado survey research firm with experience conducting public opinion research on statewide and local issues, alongside experienced campaign leaders who have successfully advanced local and statewide policy initiatives.
Results: Case studies will demonstrate how polling helped advocates better understand community attitudes, identify effective messages, strengthen coalition alignment, counter opposition narratives, and build public and policymaker support for policy change. Examples will highlight both publicly released polling and internal strategic research used to inform campaign decision-making.
Implications: Participants will leave with lessons learned for integrating polling into public health advocacy efforts and strategies for using polling to provide cost-effective guidance on high-impact messages and how to deploy them.The session will emphasize how research-informed strategies can strengthen partnerships, improve communications, support health equity goals, and build more effective campaigns that advance healthier communities across Colorado.
Jodi L. Radke is the Regional Director for the Rocky Mountain/Great Plains Region with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Jodi manages tobacco control policy for nine states, promoting and supporting legislation that prevents kids from starting tobacco use and assisting adults that... Read More →
Chris Keating, PhD, is the President and founder of Keating Research, Inc. Keating has an undergraduate degree in political science from Northwestern University and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Illinois. Keating has worked in survey research in Colorado for the past 30... Read More →
At Keating Research, Spencer Keating focuses on accurate, well-crafted polling that helps organizations and campaigns understand where voters truly stand on key issues. He designs surveys, gathers data, and identifies insights clients can use to shape winning strategies. He’s always... Read More →
