Initial Reflection

The Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy or KCSP for short is an organization under the UK College of Nursing that focus on promoting smoke-free communities and providing information regarding all types of smoking. To be honest when I first visited the website, I found it quite unappealing. There is a lot of unused blank space which could have been utilized in a more efficient manner. I have yet to meet with the supervisor, Monica Mundy, for my first orientation and so my thoughts on the organization are purely based on what information I could gather via the internet. While certainly their website was not very aesthetically pleasing, I was impressed by the sheer amount of information made available for the public to view. For example, they provide a detailed informational sheet regarding e-cigarettes, its components, and potential health hazards. I thought this was very important because most people, including myself, likely would not know how e-cigs are similar and different to regular tobacco products. Through the very informative information, I was able to learn that while advertisements say that e-cigs are supposedly better alternatives to smoking tobacco, they have the same effects as smoking tobacco after using for five minutes.

information provided on e-cigs

From my research, I was not able to find if the KCSP had a FaceBook or not, but they did indeed have a very active and involved Twitter page. Through social media, they have been spreading their initiatives and showing people how earnest they are about creating healthier environments and informing the uninformed. While the website is the main source of information for anything smoke-related, their social media seems to be the main source of current events and updates taking place for the organization. Not only that, I think the avid use of Twitter is a great idea of trying to connect with the younger generation consisting of students and even children. It is better to inform people about the hazards of smoking as early as possible, and the KCSP clearly realizes that. It is good to see that the people within the organization seem to be very passionate about what they do. They are constantly striving to make the air cleaner, and as fellow advocate of non-smoking, I am looking forward to working with them. 

a poster promoting tobacco free areas