Stanford Three-Community Study
Also: Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Program · Three Community Study
Field experiment by the Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Program, begun in 1972, that ran a two-year multimedia campaign on smoking, diet and heart risk in two northern California towns (Watsonville and Gilroy), adding face-to-face instruction for high-risk residents in Watsonville, with Tracy as the control town.
- Years
- 1972
- Country
- United States
- Topic
- CardiovascularNutritionTobacco
- Asks people to
- StopSubstitute
- Strategy
- Multi level communitySelf efficacy
- Channel
- InterpersonalPrintRadioTV
- Audience
- AdultsResidents of three small northern California towns; intensive instruction for high-risk people in Watsonville.
Evidence
Quasi-experimentalPositive
Risk of cardiovascular disease rose in the control town over two years but fell substantially in both campaign towns. Adding face-to-face counselling gave a larger early improvement and more smoking reduction, but after two years the drop in estimated risk was similar in both treatment towns (Farquhar et al. 1977). Knowledge and diet/smoking behaviour improved in both treatment towns; media plus instruction worked best for high-risk people (Maccoby et al. 1977).
Sponsor (who paid)
- Stanford University School of Medicine (Stanford Heart Disease Prevention Program) Academic, designer and evaluator
Credits (who made it)
- John W. Farquhar Individual
- Nathan Maccoby Individual
Related campaigns
- Stanford Five-City Project 1980–1986
- North Karelia Project 1972–1997
- Minnesota Heart Health Program 1981
- Pawtucket Heart Health Program 1983
Sources
- Farquhar JW et al. Community education for cardiovascular health. Lancet 1977;1(8023):1192-5 evaluation · 1977 · DOI 10.1016/s0140-6736(77)92727-1 · PMID 68285
- Maccoby N et al. Reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease: effects of a community-based campaign on knowledge and behavior. J Community Health 1977;3:100-14 evaluation · 1977 · DOI 10.1007/BF01674232 · PMID 617630
Research notes
Only three towns, assigned not randomised (PubMed indexes it as an RCT, but the abstract describes assignment of whole towns), so recorded as quasi-experimental. End year left blank: the abstracts give a 2-year campaign starting from the 1972 field study but not exact campaign dates. Channels from the abstracts ('multimedia campaign', mass media, face-to-face counselling); the often-cited Spanish-language materials and direct mail were not confirmed, so left out. Funding (NHLBI) not confirmed.
Record cases/stanford-three-community-study.json, updated 2026-10-23· Link to this campaign