Objectives: This paper describes the Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment and Leadership (APPEAL) Stages of Community Readiness Model, a framework for assessing and evaluating tobacco control in the diverse Asian American and PaCific Islander (AAPI) communities.
Methods: This model extends the work of existing community capacity models by applying a "stage of readiness" continuum of the five stages of pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and maintenance in terms of developing, launching and sustaining AAPI tobacco control efforts.
Findings: The APPEAL Model allows communities to diagnose, then address their unique needs through appropriate technical assistance, training and resources. The APPEAL Model benefits both communities and funders through its ability to better understand their readiness to conduct tobacco control and have realistic expectations on the outcomes of those efforts.
Conclusions: This paper describes the elements of the Readiness model for AAPIS, particularly those addressing research and data issues, current applications of the model in specific AAPI ethnic communities, and the lessons learned thus far regarding the model's applicability to, and support of, the development of AAPI tobacco control efforts nationally.