Abstract
Introduction: Recent national data reinforce over 3.6 million young people across the United States are currently using e-cigarettes, but little research exists on prevention and/or youth engagement strategies.
Purpose: Pilot a peer led e-cigarette prevention and advocacy training and determine attitudes and self-efficacy among participating rural high school leaders post-training.
Methods: The study incorporated a one-group, post-test design. Participants were recruited from an existing student leadership program (N = 16) which provides advanced cancer education and training to high school students who are from Appalachian Kentucky who participated in an e-cigarette prevention and empowerment training in December 2019. Data were collected via an online survey 4-months post-training.
Results: Students all expressed concern regarding e-cigarette use among people their age and believed their age group is being targeted by companies to buy these products. The majority (93.8%) agreed that education regarding the dangers of tobacco use is an important strategy. All supported tobacco control policies in their community. At the individual level, the majority (87.5%) agreed that they would be comfortable encouraging a friend to quit vaping. Similarly, 87.5% agreed there was something they could do to change the trend of using e-cigarettes in their school and they could select effective strategies to educate young people to lower tobacco use in their community.
Implications: Findings reinforce the desire for young people to be involved in e-cigarette prevention efforts and the need for continued training to support youth engagement efforts.
Recommended Citation
Ickes, M. J., Zidzik, O., & Vanderford, N. L. (2021). Engaging Rural High School Youth in E-cigarette Prevention and Advocacy. Journal of Interprofessional Practice and Collaboration, 3(2). Retrieved from https://repository.ulm.edu/ojihp/vol3/iss2/3
Included in
Community Health and Preventive Medicine Commons, Health and Physical Education Commons, Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences Commons, Public Health Education and Promotion Commons, Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons
