Smoking is a leading cause of preventable disease in the U.S., and contributes to more than 440,000 (or nearly one of five) deaths each year. [1,2] More deaths are caused by complications from smoking than by the combined death totals from the human immunodeficiency virus, car crashes, illegal drug use, alcohol use, suicides, and murders.[1] Of particular concern is the U.S. epidemiological evidence showing that preventable deaths affect almost twice as many minority adults than their White counterparts.[9] Research is calling for culturally targeted smoking interventions for minority youth that meet ethnic/cultural experiences, needs, and values. The proposed project meets needs stated in the "Innovation for Health Living" grant announcement from the National Institute for Minority Health and Health Disparities for ..."culturally attuned behavioral interventions...that empower and promote opportunities for individuals to avoid risky behaviors"; and creating "culturally appropriate, evidence-based ...educational media such as...printed materials for health disparities populations and disadvantaged communities." The project targets the need to "reduce health disparities within and across the priority areas of cardiovascular disease, stroke...and conditions of public health importance." During Phase I, Terra Nova will work with smoking prevention, literary, cultural, and communication experts and an advisory panel of urban, minority adolescents to research and design a complete prototype Graphic Novel with a story focused on smoking prevention and health information and will feature a group of characters in a virtual urban setting that resonate with the target population (minority youth 12-14 yrs.). The story will be developed with input from inner city youth, and written to the group most vulnerable to smoking initiation - inner city minority teens living in low socio economic communities. The novel's anti-smoking message will be extended by online mentor materials, designed for use by youth mentors/group leaders through individual, group, and outreach activities. Project materials will be developed with input from a youth advisory committee, evaluated by expert consultants; and field-tested with 60 inner city minority adolescents for outcomes of future smoking intention, perceived risks/benefits of smoking, and confidence in smoking refusal skills. Through Smoking Prevention: A Graphic Novel Approach for Urban Minority Adolescents, Terra Nova seeks to reach and engage at- risk adolescents in a new and innovative way.
Public Health Relevance Statement: Public Health Relevance: By creating an anti-smoking message specifically targeting minority youth delivered through a literature format popular with adolescents (the graphic novel), the proposed, Smoking Prevention: A Graphic Novel Approach for Urban Minority Adolescents will provide important health information to groups of youth that may not be reached by more general anti-smoking programs currently used in schools and communities. Students can relate to the group of characters introduced in an engaging graphic novel story who navigate pressures to smoke within the context of dynamic environmental pressures. The project is designed to help increase confidence in smoking refusal skills and anti-smoking outcomes of minority youth, thereby addressing the numbers of preventable deaths in this country from heart disease and stroke, more than half of which occur in minority adults.
Project Terms: 14 year old; Address; Adolescent; Adult; Advisory Committees; Affect; Alcohol consumption; Antismoking; Applications Grants; Area; Behavior Therapy; Benefits and Risks; Books; Cardiovascular Diseases; Cause of Death; Cessation of life; Communication; Communities; Companions; Country; Data Analyses; Databases; design; Development; Development Plans; Disadvantaged; Disease; Drug usage; empowered; Epidemiology; Evaluation; evidence base; experience; Focus Groups; Future; Grant; Health; health disparity; Heart Diseases; HIV; Image; Individual; inner city; innovation; Institutes; Intention; Knowledge; Length; Life; Literature; Measures; meetings; member; Mentors; Minority; minority health; Murder; non-smoking; novel; novel strategies; Outcome; Outcome Measure; outreach; Phase; Population; Preparation; pressure; Printing; Production; programs; prototype; public health medicine (field); public health relevance; Reader; Recommendation; Research; Research Design; Resources; response; Risk; Risk Behaviors; risk perception; Schools; Series; skills; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Smoke; Smoking; Smoking and Health Research; smoking intervention; Smoking Prevention; social; socioeconomics; stroke; Structure; Students; Suicide; Summary Reports; Surveys; Target Populations; teacher; Teenagers; Testing; user-friendly; Vehicle crash; virtual; web site; Work; Writing; Youth
