NCTFG Podcast Episode 3 Transcript – David Willard

Megan Faber: Welcome to an episode of the North Carolinians for a Tobacco Free Generation podcast. I’m your host, Megan, and in each episode, we interview an expert or professional in the field of tobacco control and prevention, asking about North Carolina policies and their work to prevent the initiation of tobacco use and to educate the public about the harms of commercial tobacco use. Whether you’re curious about the landscape of tobacco prevention in North Carolina or you’re well versed in this topic, you’ve come to the right place. Join us as we learn more about tobacco use and prevention and connect with local experts in North Carolina. Today, we’re joined by David Willard, the regional tobacco control manager from region three of North Carolina. David tells us more about his role as a regional tobacco control manager and how you can get involved to help your community become tobacco free. Today, we’re joined by David Willard, the regional tobacco control manager from region three of North Carolina. David tells us a little bit more about the role of a regional tobacco control manager and how you can get to help your community become tobacco free.

David Willard: So I’m David Willard. I’m the region three tobacco prevention and control manager. So I cover the ten counties that are the northwest corner of North Carolina. So it’s kind of the foothills to the mountains there a little bit. So that’s where my region is.

Megan Faber: Could you share with us a little bit about your journey to becoming a regional tobacco control manager?

David Willard: Sure. Yeah. So went to college for exercise science with a focus on cardiac rehab. And so after doing that, that was an eye opening experience. When you’re going through a lot of these classes and whatnot, you’re seeing a lot of the effects on, specifically the heart. Obviously, we talked about, but not only just the heart, but other organs in the body. And one of the common threads and. And biggest modifiable risk factors that you. That was. That was. Talked about was tobacco use and specifically smoking. So, you know, going through that, I kind of wanted to be on a more proactive side of it coming out of college. So then I got an internship at a local health department and worked with them throughout that summer, and then ended up getting a job with where I am now. And I’ve just stayed here because it’s. It’s a lot of fun sometimes trying to figure out how to overcome the barriers that are present here in North Carolina with tobacco products. I grew up in New York, so we had smoke free restaurants and bars well before North Carolina did. But that did happen before I was hired, but only a couple years before North Carolina ended up getting the smoke free restaurants and bars. So, you know, living in New York and seeing a lot of the things that we did up there for tobacco control kind of opened my eyes to some of that stuff that, you know, down here is going to be a little bit harder to overcome, of course. But I think, you know, with the persistence and the work that we put in and our local champions, we kind of do the best that we can and keep working.

Megan Faber: Could you tell us a little bit about the goals of a regional tobacco control manager and how you work to implement those goals and interventions in region three?

David Willard: Sure. Yeah. So our goals, even at the branch and the state level, you know, the goals will just go through them, is to prevent the initiation of smoking and other tobacco use, eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke, help tobacco users quit, and then advance health equity by identifying and eliminating commercial tobacco product related to inequities and disparities. So those are like the overarching goals for the state. Those kind of trickle down, of course, to the local level as well. Those are, you know, they’re kind of, they’re kind of no brainer goals that we have. Of course, you know, we want to prevent that initiation, which, of course, is, you know, trying to prevent youth mainly from. From even starting and then eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke. So that’s just working with, you know, municipalities and other places to adopt tobacco free policies and then, of course, trying to get people to quit. And one of the best resources that we have for quitting is the North Carolina quit line. So that’s the 1800 quit now phone number that people have seen. So that’s, you know, those are our really main goals. And, of course, using the health equity lens and all, basically all three of those initiatives to try to, you know, take down those barriers. So a lot of people will say that, you know, we’re connectors, or another regional manager likes to say we’re spinning a whole bunch of plates and trying to keep them all up. If you talk to Ernest Watts, you’ve probably heard him say that a time or two. So, yeah, it’s trying to balance all these things that we have going on. And, you know, the opportunistic work is quite prevalent. So you got to be ready to, you, you know, jump on a project. If a community partner is ready to go, you know, you gotta be ready to go in those instances. So, like, you know, for instance, if there’s a community that wants a tobacco free policy and there’s momentum behind it at that point, it’s best to go ahead and try to jump on that when there is that want and the will that are in the communities to get that done. So just being prepared for those situations where I. Our expertise is needed. Working with the local health departments, as I’ve said before, is, you know, our greatest partner for our local areas, not even just the health departments, but there’s other entities that we work with as well that. That are just great partners throughout the system. So sometimes it’s connecting those partners to each other. Sometimes you might have a hospital system or some youth serving network that, you know, isn’t aware of each other, and then so they kind of can sometimes be connected and work together to achieve the goal that they’re getting towards.

Megan Faber: Do you have any examples of something that you may have worked on recently that other regions would be curious about?

David Willard: One of the things that I’ve been most influenced and encouraged by recently is we’ve done some work with the behavioral health facilities going tobacco free. So that’s been in the works for years now. In our region. It’s been a little bit slower than some other regions to get that momentum behind it, but a lot of momentum is kind of got rolling here. But we worked with the Wake Forest Health program to connect to Trosa, which is just a behavioral health facility that they have two branches. One’s in Durham and one’s in Winston Salem. So Winston Salem’s in my area. So we’re working with them and to connect them to have a connection to doing some NRT titration with the folks who are at the Trosa facility. So that’s been a really good partnership. It was something similar that they do with Durham out at that campus. And so they kind of wanted to replicate it here. So luckily, you know, again, we’re just connecting the dots and trying to get our partners to be able to help other partners. So, you know, what had happened is Trosa had reached out and said that this is what they want to do. And I said, well, that sounds like a good idea. Let’s, let’s see if we got some connections over at Wake Forest that we can, that we can connect with and hopefully get it going. And so, you know, it happened kind of quick, which is sometimes nothing. Not the case. It usually takes a lot of time. They’re still working through getting it going. But just to even start the conversations about that important intervention for the behavioral health facilities, I think it’s just something that’s always gratifying and something that just, you know, when you’ve gone for quite a while and not had too much success in that particular field, and then when you have some success, it just makes it that much better.

Megan Faber: Other than implementing these types of interventions, what other kinds of activities do you typically get involved in, in your role?

David Willard: Yeah, so, I mean, you know, we can do anything that’s really asked of us for the most part, outside of, you know, some very specific things. But, you know, our biggest asset that we have, of course, is the knowledge that we all have as regional managers. We’re all well in tune with what is going on in the tobacco world. So it’s something that we try to keep our fingers on the pulse of a lot. So, you know, when things do come out that are new, we try to get ahead of them. As hard as that is sometimes to get ahead of these products, it’s what we try to do. But outside of that, some of the things we can offer presentations to people. We like going out and doing presentations for folks who may want to go have a tobacco free policy. Or sometimes we might want to do presentations on programs that might fit into the school curriculums where we can, you know, get on that, you know, more. More proactive side of the prevention part of it. And, you know, we might be able to provide sample policies for folks who are wanting to do various policy work throughout the community. Then, you know, we do little things like you provide tobacco free signs for folks who want to go tobacco free. We might have printed materials, so providing, you know, brochures and that sort of stuff for policy support, quit line brochures for practices that are medically focused, usually health departments and other facilities. We provide a lot of information to them. Really. We’re just there to be in their corner for when they want to tackle these tobacco initiatives. So it’s something that we just really work towards and try to try to build those partnerships to be able to, you know, provide those materials.

Megan Faber: How have you championed tobacco control efforts in your role within North Carolina?

David Willard: Yeah. So the way that we try to do things on a local level is we work really heavily and rely on our partners quite a bit. So our local partners are our biggest asset. So working through them and with them to try to initiate some tobacco control initiatives in their respective areas is kind of where we focus a lot of our efforts on the locals know their communities better than anybody else, so it’s always, always great to have great champions at the local level. And, you know, we’re just kind of there for the support and provide them with the information and knowledge that they need to be able to work on the initiatives that they see fit for their communities. Definitely, you know, our counties are a little bit different, but they’re mostly kind of similar in their generic makeups. But, you know, it’s, it’s one of those things where you got to learn to the communities that you’re working with to best understand how to deliver that message, so to speak. So, you know, a lot of the funny sayings that you might hear is if, you know, you’ve been to one health department, you’ve really been to one health department. So, you know, every health department’s different. They’re going to have their different goals, and they might not have the same kind of makeup. You might have a health department that’s got a really big and robust community health department, but then you might have some that are, you know, you have a health educator that’s split between several different programs. So it’s really trying to figure out where to focus that energy on and how best to do it. And, you know, in terms of delivering the message, you know, the message pretty much kind of stays the same throughout wherever your, wherever your audience is. So we don’t, I don’t tailor too much, but it’s also, maybe I do, and I just don’t really think about it, but it’s just learning the communities and being in the position for as long as I have of really learn the different communities that are there. When I moved here in 2005, moved to Yakin county, so I was, you know, and I already had family in Yakin county, so I was very familiar with, you know, the, that particular area of North Carolina and the differences and nuances that come with it. So it’s just really kind of learning that community and what might tick with them. And like I said, I mean, it’s the, it’s the champions that do the biggest and best work for you. So when you get that champion identified, once you get that champion going, that’s the best way to get that message into that community.

Megan Faber: What do you think are the most pressing issues regarding tobacco control in North Carolina?

David Willard: Yeah, I think there’s a lot of pressing issues, but I think one of the most pressing issues right now is, of course, the vaping and the youth. I think that that’s a well known issue that we’ve seen quite a bit throughout the years here recently. And not only that, then, of course, we’re seeing other, other substances being used in the vapes that are also causing some problems within schools and elsewhere as well, of course. But, yeah, that would be, to me, the biggest press initiative right now is trying to get the youth to understand some of the potential dangers of the products that they’re using and what they might do and how some of these products might show some negative effects, maybe if it’s towards their athletics that they’re doing. There’s been some stuff recently with schools and failing drug tests with CBD products. The hemp derived products being used in the vapes have kind of caused a lot of issues through some schools and whatnot. So that would be the number one pressing issue, I would say. And I think the second pressing issue that I think is going to become on the forefront at some point is going to be the nicotine pouches that we’re kind of seeing be used in similar fashions, that other products have been marketed to youth throughout the years. So fingers crossed that doesn’t become an issue with the youth, but unfortunately, kind of seeing some of the similar marketing practices being used that we’ve seen with other products.

Megan Faber: Yes, definitely. What do you think the state could do to kind of help improve these issues with regard to vaping and other emerging products?

David Willard: Yeah, I think, you know, the state, we do a great job of trying to, you know, tackle these issues with the resources that we have available. So I think, you know, we’re doing the best job that we can with it. What the state could do more to improve outside of garnering more funds for more positions, more funds for more people focused on tobacco only throughout the state would be ideal. But again, that’s not something that we can control terribly easily, unfortunately.

Megan Faber: Definitely. I feel the answer is always, where can we get more funding? How can we create more resources? Is the biggest challenge that you face in your role?

David Willard: Oh, let’s see. The biggest challenge recently, I’d say our biggest challenge has been turnover at local levels and just turnover in general. After the pandemic kind of cooled off a little, you know, health departments were overwhelmed during that time period. It was all hands on deck to respond to these issues. And so turnover has just been. Been a problem. And then to go along with turnover, sometimes when you have turnover, you’re going to lose a champion that you’ve had. So you might have had a champion inside this health department or wherever it might be, any of your partners. Whenever you lose a good champion, it’s somewhat devastating on a. On a personal level, really. You know, you get to know these people, you get to work with them quite a bit, you get to learn a lot about them, and then, you know, they move on and they move on to better things for them. So that. That’s great. But, you know, just losing the champions is always the hardest thing. A lot of wind in the sail gets deflated at that point, but, you know, then you turn around and try to keep finding the other champions that might be out there. So that that’s probably the biggest. The biggest barrier that we face. And then I think the other, another barrier that we face is just the ever changing landscape of what tobacco products are these days. It’s evolved quite a bit in the past couple of years, from just traditional cigarettes to traditional chew and dip now has changed quite a bit. So it’s one of those things that we’re always trying to chase the new and trying to figure out ways to use the tactics and the initiatives that we’ve used in the past for tobacco control with these new products. So it’s just kind of one of those things where it’s ever changing, but it’s similar in some ways, but it’s always going to be different.

Megan Faber: Yeah, definitely. It gives you a chance to kind of think creatively about how you can implement change in a place where that might not be the easiest thing in the world.

David Willard: Definitely. Yeah. There’s got to be some creativity involved in the work that we do. It’s not an easy sell sometimes for some of the initiatives that we do. So it’s kind of, you know, trying to help people understand the importance of some of the issues that we take on are a big part of our job.

Megan Faber: Definitely very good to hear. What advice do you have for youth and young adults who are looking to quit or have someone help them quit tobacco and nicotine products?

David Willard: Um, yeah, I thought that this question was a little. Little more difficult than some of the other ones. Um, you know, the advice for youth and young adults is, um, you know, from adults is sometimes, you know, not the best way to reach the. The youth in young adults. So, you know, having them try to maybe look to their peers and others who have. Have. Maybe quit, or maybe just looking to your peers who can set an example for you that, you know, where they do live, that tobacco freestyle. I do think, you know, one of the hardest things that some people do is quit tobacco. And I think, you know, you just got to keep at it. It’s not typically going to happen on your first try, so, you know, to keep at it, it’s hard to quit. There are resources available. The truth initiative has got a really good text to quit program designed for youth. Livevate free is another one in North Carolina that we have that’s really, really useful for the youth. So, you know, just getting any of these resources that you can, you know, not everybody’s going to quit the same kind of way. So, you know, whatever resource that is out there and available, use it and just keep at it. And don’t, don’t. Just don’t. Just quit the quit, so to speak. You know, it’s just one of those things where I. You just got to keep at it and it’s not going to be easy, but it’s rewarding.

Megan Faber: Definitely. And do you think you could tell us a little bit about the catch my breath campaign in schools?

David Willard: Sure. Yeah. So catch my breath is a curriculum. It’s been around for quite some time now. It’s a curriculum for schools to use. It’s pretty teacher friendly. The lesson plans are kind of written up just like a regular lesson plan would be written up for a school. So a school can attend a training from catch my breath to become a facilitator for that program. There’s also train the trainer programs out there so that the train the trainer programs could be more designed for other community partners that are in the communities. Rather than having to go through some online course or taking time from someone else. You can become a train the trainer and you can then take that. Take that and then train your local schools. It’s a really good program. We’ve used that quite a bit here. We’ve done some programs in the district, counties, so that’s Ash, Allegheny and Watauga with that. So we’ve got some train the trainers out there who have worked with those schools to get those initiatives in there. So it’s a really good program. It is evidence based, and after the train the trainers, it’s usually free for the schools to use. So that’s just been a great thing. And that was, you know, there’s always questions about cost on things, so that’s one of the things that, you know, it’s free, so it’s. You don’t got to worry about that. But, yeah, we’ve used it for. For quite some time. There’s some schools that have really took it on and, you know, use some great champions to push it through their school systems, so. And I think, you know, a lot of it’s. It’s not just really just this one program that’s gonna, you know, make a big difference. It’ll make a difference, but not the biggest difference, but it’s all these other tools that are in that toolbox together that can help, you know, get the mold there for these schools. So, you know, catch my breath. Along with this tobacco free schools policy, along with all the other initiatives that we push for, for youth, I think, you know, it really does help, and I think it has made a difference in some communities, and I think it’s making a difference throughout North Carolina as well.

Megan Faber: How can local leaders work to make their communities tobacco free?

David Willard: Yeah, it’s similar to kind of what we’ve talked about, you know, working with any kind of coalition that may. There’s drug free community coalitions out there that are, that are pretty prevalent and really work very well at these tobacco initiatives. So, you know, working with those organizations to get the tobacco free policies going. Local governments have the ability to control their tobacco free policies, pretty much so they’re able to pass rules that can reduce the secondhand smoke exposure in their communities. So if you have a tobacco free park, then you’re kind of reducing the secondhand smoke exposure to particularly youth. Youth are going to be at the park. One of those, one of those behavior behaviors that is learned, if you see it, kind of deal. So it’s, you know, eliminating those, those kinds of, those kinds of things from parks and any kind of other thing that you can think of. Buildings, grounds, locals have the ability to pass rules to make their county and municipalities own parks, grounds, buildings, all tobacco free, I think.

Megan Faber: Has there been any work in your region to pass these policies recently?

David Willard: Yeah, so if you, you know, we talked a little bit about the behavioral health facilities. So the behavioral health facilities were, through Medicaid, wherever, to be tobacco free by a certain date. And that certain date is now moved out to 2025. But, yeah, so we’ve worked with those behavioral health facilities as best as we can, whether that’s just providing the signage, like we said, or if that’s working with them to develop their policies and provide them sample policies and get them connected with other people who, throughout the state who have already gone tobacco free, that our behavioral health facilities is always, you know, kind of what we’ve tried our best to get done now with local policies and local government policies. We have had some parks past tobacco free policies in the last little bit. Wilkes county was one of them. So that would be North Wilkesboro, and Wilkesboro did pass tobacco free parks then past couple of years. And so that’s always a. A big win when you can pass policies, because policies are one of the best things that we can do, but they’re also some of the most time consuming and most, there’s. There’s some of the hardest to do, really. You got to have that want and that will from the local partners and then the elected officials. To be able to get. Get those done, you got to have really good champions and that really want to push and get the work done. So it’s. It’s. It’s a. It’s a great tool. It’s one of the harder ones, but it’s one of the best ones to get past. And it’s also one of the most rewarding to get past.

Megan Faber: Do you have any advice for somebody who would be interested in kind of championing this work in their community?

David Willard: Yeah, get involved with the local. The local health department. If you’re not already in a health department, get involved with that local health department, because, you know, their goals are probably going to be, um, somewhat tobacco focused, especially in their health, health promotion departments. And I think that, you know, getting involved with the regional managers is always a big positive and always something that, that is very beneficial. If you’ve got the passion for tobacco control, definitely reach out to those, those folks. And I think, you know, another one that’s not really thought of too much is working with the colleges and universities that might be in your, in your area. Since sometimes they’ve got some health science programs in their departments that are connected with health departments from time to time and other entities that focus on tobacco efforts. I think working with all of those partners is something that can be beneficial.

Megan Faber: Awesome. Okay, so that brings us to our last question. How do you think we can support a tobacco free generation as public health professionals?

David Willard: Yeah, I think it’s kind of just doing what we’ve talked about a little bit here, you know, continuing to push out the messages and, you know, the health risks that may present with these particular products. And I think it’s, you know, we’re doing a good job with, with educating the youth. I think there’s some evidence out there that’s shown a little bit of a decline with the, with vaping products. So I think it’s something that, you know, it’s working for us. And I think, you know, as long as we can keep at it and just keep that same consistent messaging, then I think, you know, we can try to work, work towards that tobacco free generation as best as we can. It’s just, you know, working with the partnerships that you have, getting those champions involved, being creative, like we talked about earlier, you know, trying to find those creative ways that, you know, you can get these messages out there and be able to find those partners to, to, to get to your goal. The youth serving organizations that we’ve worked with are great. There’s one particular here in Wilkes county that we worked with quite a bit called Wild, and they do a really good job of impacting the youth and reaching the youth and sometimes reaching the youth a really hard endeavor. So when you get these organizations that can, that are already cracked at night, I think, you know, then that’s a good way to get in. I think that that’s, you know, using some of that peer pressure on the other youth to be able to push these messages out there.

Megan Faber: As we wrap up today’s episode, we want to thank David Willard for sharing a little bit about his work in region three of North Carolina and letting us know about the role of regional tobacco control managers across the state. Our conversation doesn’t end here, though. If today’s topic was particularly interesting or you have thoughts, stories, or questions that you would like us to explore in further episodes, please reach out and follow NCTFG on social media. You can find us at tobaccofreenc on Facebook, Instagram X, and LinkedIn. You can also visit our website that’s linked in the description below to get updates on upcoming episodes. This podcast is supported by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Tobacco Prevention Control Branch and the University of North Carolina’s Tobacco Prevention evaluation program.