Clatsop County coalition applies 'positive culture' framework to perinatal tobacco use after data review

Clatsop County public-health and community partners on Wednesday reviewed county and national data on tobacco and nicotine use in pregnancy and discussed using an appreciative “positive culture” framework to guide outreach and prevention work.

Lisa Schuyler, co‑facilitator of the Clatsop County Public Health Coalition, told attendees that “the level that Clatsop County is in is, like, that third dot down, which is the 8.7 to 11.2, and it says we actually have 9.4 percent. And this was from 2020 to 2022.” The figure refers to births to people who reported tobacco use at any point during pregnancy.

The meeting combined a brief training on the Positive Culture Framework — a coalition-building model that promotes “appreciative” approaches (emphasizing local strengths and successes) — with a review of local data and a group exercise using the social‑ecological model. Schuyler described the framework as encouraging “hope and concern, but not fear,” and urged partners to identify existing community assets to expand, rather than focusing solely on deficits.

Why it matters: Tobacco and nicotine exposure during pregnancy is associated in medical literature with miscarriage,…