Most adult smokers want to quit smoking. Yet, only 5 percent of adult smokers are able to quit smoking each year. What makes some smokers quit for good while others continuously fail? Do some smokers have more willpower than others? Are smoking cessation aids such as the nicotine patch or gum effective? How effective are media campaigns and smoking laws at smoking prevention?

On June 12-14, 2006, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) conducted a state-of-the-science conference entitled “Tobacco Use: Prevention, Cessation, and Control” in an attempt to answer these questions. Through literature review and professional experience, the panel developed the following best practices:

• When targeting young adults, the most effective approaches to preventing tobacco use are (1) increasing the price of tobacco products; (2) laws and regulations that affect youth access to tobacco products/restrictions on tobacco industry advertising; (3) mass media campaigns.
• Job Corps application:
• Enforce underage smoking laws. Identify students who are under the legal smoking age with a different color ID card.  Ensure all staff enforce this rule.
• Use mass media education campaign (defined as an intervention of an extended duration that uses brief, recurring messages to inform and to motivate tobacco users to quit.) to spread the anti-smoking message. Play anti-smoking videos in the wellness center.  Hang attractive anti-smoking posters that appeal to youth throughout the center focusing on areas where students congregate (e.g., dormitories, cafeteria, gym, etc.).  Use the creativity of the staff and/or students to develop custom anti-smoking posters, videos, and other materials (e.g., buttons, cards, t-shirts, etc.) for use throughout the center.
• Telephone counseling has been effective, especially when used with other interventions such as educational or clinical therapies.
• Job Corps application:
• Direct students to call 1-800-QUITNOW (800-784-8669).  This quitline automatically directs callers to their state’s stop smoking help line.  Trained counselors supply callers with support and resources.
• Ensure TUPP groups meet regularly and students are informed about smoking cessation resources on center.
• Consider developing a peer program where students who have quit smoking can serve as a sponsor for newer TUPP participants.
• Culturally tailored, gender-specific, and language-appropriate programs show promise.
• Job Corps application:
• Consider separate TUPP groups for males and females.  Males and females may have different concerns about quitting smoking. For example, female smokers may be more worried about associated weight gain than their male counterparts.
• If using an out-of-the-box smoking cessation curriculum/program, spend time selecting a program tailored for adolescents and young adults.
• Search for programs that are culturally appropriate. If graphics are used, ensure that they reflect your center’s demographics.
• Increasing the cost of tobacco products through taxes, decreasing the cost of stop-smoking aids, and providing financial incentives are all successful measures in smoking cessation.
• Job Corps application:
• Offer incentives to students in TUPP. For example, any student who is smoke free for one month could receive passes for a movie or other fun activity.
• Most centers already offer some type of stop-smoking aid. Ensure that you have a variety of items to help students quit smoking and that these items are always in stock.
• Health systems with a dedicated staff for tobacco cessation services achieve better outcomes than those who do not designate specific staff for this function.
• Job Corps application:
• Ensure the TUPP coordinator has the time and motivation to dedicate to the program in addition to his or her other duties.
• Ensure that the TUPP coordinator is a non-smoker.
• Identify students who smoke on entry. Strongly encourage all smokers and in particular students with a chronic respiratory condition to participate in TUPP.
• Marketing smokeless tobacco (ST) products in lieu of cigarettes does not decrease harm from tobacco use. Those who use ST are more likely to eventually become smokers than those who do not use tobacco.
• Job Corps application:
• Educate all staff on the harmful effects of all tobacco products and in particular smokeless tobacco.
• “Most adult smokers want to quit, and effective interventions exist. However, only a small proportion of tobacco users receive intervention. This gap represents a major national quality-of-care problem.”
• Job Corps application:
• Educate all students on entry about the TUPP program.  Display information about this resource where students are likely to see it (e.g., in the wellness center, cafeteria, dormitories, designated smoking areas, etc.)
• Periodically, reassess your center’s tobacco cessation program materials to ensure that it is up to date.

Click here to read the entire report, view a webcast of the conference, or download the extensive review of literature used to develop these practices log.