Unequal Access
SAVI Talks - June 2017Tobacco retailers are concentrated in areas with higher poverty, higher proportions of people of color, and lower educational attainment.
On June 29 The Polis Center and WFYI hosted a public conversation on the impact of tobacco usage to population health, local economics, and public policy. Program highlights included the presentation of findings from the report, Unequal Access: Tobacco Retail in the Indianapolis Metro Area, produced by The Polis Center at IUPUI for the SAVI Community Information System. It serves as a companion piece to the IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health’s September 2016 Report on the Tobacco Epidemic in Marion County and Indiana.
The full report explores how health, economic, demographic factors relate to tobacco retail density. Our research finds that tobacco retailers are concentrated in areas with higher poverty, higher proportions of people of color, and lower educational attainment. These areas also have higher maternal smoking rates and estimated adult smkoing rates.
Authors
Karen Comer, Director of Collaborative Research and Health Geoinformatics
Kelly Davila, Senior Research Analyst
Debra Hollon, GIS Analyst
Matt Nowlin, Research Analyst
Panelists
Carmel Wroth, Managing Editor, WFYI’s Side Effects Public Media
Virginia A. Caine, MD, Director, Marion County Public Health Department
Paul K. Halverson, DrPH, FACHE, Professor and Founding Dean, IU Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health
Bryan Mills, President and Chief Executive Officer, Community Health Network
Partners
Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation
Fairbanks School of Public Health
WFYI
Sponsors
Program sponsors included the Indiana University Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health and the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation in partnership with The Polis Center at IUPUI, the IUPUI School of Liberal Arts, IUPUI, and WFYI.