Public health and commercial tobacco prevention practitioners have increasingly centered equity in policy development to ensure that policies to combat commercial tobacco–related harms do not unintentionally perpetuate or exacerbate health disparities. This shift includes efforts to improve evaluation activities to better measure health equity impacts related both to outcomes and to how the policy was developed and implemented.

The lists of sample metrics in this resource provide local policymakers, public health practitioners, and community groups with a foundation for further conversation about how we measure the community impact of the policy process. These non-exhaustive lists stem from research across the field of public health; only some correspond to existing examples in commercial tobacco. In time, we hope to share examples of each metric at work and to update the research as we continue to learn from our partners.

The lists and accompanying research in this tool aim to provide . . .

• Inspiration for new and deeper partnerships throughout the policy process — for example, between local decision makers, partner agencies, community-based organizations, health care partners, other service providers, and residents
• Data metrics and supporting evidence to help ground and inspire new approaches to evaluating the policy process
• Avenues for building a network of communities that are making this shift in their approaches to evaluation provisions and plans