The Considerthis.org website provides tobacco use prevention and cessation messages to children aged 12-15. The website content is tailored to children’s prior experience with tobacco by classifying children as stable or vulnerable never smokers, stable or vulnerable ex-smokers, experimenters or regular smokers. The website is intended for use in grades 6-9. Six units with interactive activities and three-dimensional animation teach decision-making strategies, media literacy, relationship development skills, stress management techniques, information on physiological impact of nicotine, and resistance strategies. The web site contain web resources, supplemental activities, and a directed chat area. In this presentation, challenges to implementing the Considerthis.org web site in school computer labs will be reviewed. These include securing teacher and administrator support, working with information technology staff, achieving minimum platform requirements and broadband Internet access, working with computer firewall software, content filters and proxies, troubleshooting problems in local area networks, and obtaining IRB approvals and consent for on-line research. Despite these challenges, the Considerthis.org web site was implemented in 10 middle schools in Denver and Albuquerque in the 2000-01. Its effects on students’ tobacco use were evaluated in a pair-matched pretest-posttest randomized field experiment. Data on students’ use and evaluation of the web site units will be presented along with comparisons by tobacco use category, grade, gender, and ethnicity. The Internet can deliver tailored health education to children, provided implementation challenges are overcome and the web site content holds the attention of children. This research project was funded by the National Cancer Institute.
Learning Objectives: At the completion of this session, the participant (learner) will be able to (a) recognize the challenges to implementing Internet-based health education in school environments and (b) articulate methods for assessing the usage and evaluation of Internet-based health education by children.
Keywords: Internet, Tobacco Control
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: AMC Cancer Research Center
I have a significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.
Relationship: Senior Scientist at the AMC Cancer Research Center and Principal Investigator on the grant that funded the development and evaluation of the website described in this abstract.