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A descriptive study of a Smoke-free Teens Programme to promote smoke-free culture in schools and the community in Hong Kong.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Youth smoking continues to be a significant global public health concern. To ensure healthier lives for youths, healthcare professionals need to increase awareness among the youth of the health risks and addictive nature of smoking, strengthen their ability to resist negative peer influence and curiosity, and help those who smoked to quit. The Smoke-free Teens Programme was launched in 2012 to equip youngsters with up-to-date information about smoking and global trends in tobacco control and to encourage them to play a pioneering role in tobacco control. This paper describes the process and outcomes of this programme for youths in Hong Kong. METHODS:The Smoke-free Teens Programme contained three major components: (i) a 2-day-1-night training camp; (ii) creative activities to promote smoke-free messages in schools and the community; and (iii) an award presentation ceremony to recognize the efforts of outstanding Smoke-free Teens in establishing a smoke-free culture. All secondary school students or teenagers aged 14 to 18?years from secondary schools, youth centres and uniform groups were invited to join the programme. The outcome measures were changes in (1) knowledge about smoking hazards; (2) attitudes towards smoking, tobacco control, and smoking cessation; and (3) practices for promoting smoking cessation. RESULTS:A total of 856 teenagers were recruited during the study period (July 2014 to March 2017). The results showed statistically significant changes in participants' knowledge about smoking hazards, attitudes towards tobacco control, and practice for promoting smoking cessation. CONCLUSIONS:The Smoke-free Teens Programme demonstrated effectiveness in equipping youngsters with up-to-date information about smoking and global trends in tobacco control and in encouraging them to play a pioneering role in tobacco control. The trained Smoke-free Teens not only promoted the smoke-free messages among their schoolmates, friends, and families, but also gathered community support for a smoke-free Hong Kong. The programme has been instrumental in fostering a new batch of Smoke-free Teens to advocate smoke-free culture and protect public health. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Clinicaltrials.gov ID NCT03291132 (retrospectively registered on September 19, 2017).

SUBMITTER: Chung OK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6322339 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A descriptive study of a Smoke-free Teens Programme to promote smoke-free culture in schools and the community in Hong Kong.

Chung Oi Kwan OK Li William Ho Cheung WHC Ho Ka Yan KY Kwong Antonio Cho Shing ACS Lai Vienna Wai Yin VWY Wang Man Ping MP Lam Katherine Ka Wai KKW Lam Tai Hing TH Chan Sophia Siu Chee SSC

BMC public health 20190107 1

<h4>Background</h4>Youth smoking continues to be a significant global public health concern. To ensure healthier lives for youths, healthcare professionals need to increase awareness among the youth of the health risks and addictive nature of smoking, strengthen their ability to resist negative peer influence and curiosity, and help those who smoked to quit. The Smoke-free Teens Programme was launched in 2012 to equip youngsters with up-to-date information about smoking and global trends in toba ...[more]

PMID: 30616578

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Project description:IntroductionSmoke-free school hours (SFSHs) entails a smoking ban during school hours and might be an effective intervention to reduce the high smoking prevalence in vocational schools. For SFSH to be effective, the policy must be adequately implemented and enforced; this challenge for schools constitutes a research gap. The 'Smoke-Free Vocational Schools' research and intervention project has been developed to facilitate schools' implementation of SFSH. It is scheduled to run from 2018 to 2022, with SFSH being implemented in 11 Danish vocational schools. This study protocol describes the intervention project and evaluation design of the research and intervention project.Methods and analysisThe intervention project aims to develop an evidence-based model for implementing SFSH in vocational schools and similar settings. The project is developed in a collaboration between research and practice. Two public health NGOs are responsible for delivering the intervention activities in schools, while the research partner evaluates what works, for whom, and under what circumstances. The intervention lasts one year per school, targeting different socioecological levels. During the first 6 months, activities are delivered to stimulate organisational readiness to implement SFSH. Then, SFSH is established, and during the next 6 months, activities are delivered to stimulate implementation of SFSH into routine practice. The epistemological foundation is realistic evaluation. The evaluation focuses on both implementation and outcomes. Process evaluation will determine the level of implementation and explore what hinders or enables SFSH becoming part of routine practice using qualitative and quantitative methods. Outcomes evaluation will quantitively assess the intervention's effectiveness, with the primary outcome measure being changes in smoking during school hours.Ethics and disseminationInformed consent will be obtained from study participants according to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Danish data protection law. The study adheres to Danish ethics procedures. Study findings will be disseminated at conferences and further published in open-access peer-reviewed journals.

Dataset Information

A descriptive study of a Smoke-free Teens Programme to promote smoke-free culture in schools and the community in Hong Kong.

Publications

A descriptive study of a Smoke-free Teens Programme to promote smoke-free culture in schools and the community in Hong Kong.

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