Back to Annual Meeting

Back to Annual Meeting

APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Bettina M. Beech, DrPH, MPH¹, Allison E. Kent, MS, RD¹, Jenilee E. Christy, BA¹, David M. Murray, PhD², Isabel Scarinci, PhD³, and Joanna Buscemi, BS, BA⁴. (1) Department of Psychology, The University of Memphis, 202 Psychology Bldg., Memphis, TN 38104, (2) Division of Epidemiology, Ohio State University, 320 W. 10th Ave., B222 Starling-Loving Hall, Columbus, OH 43210, (3) Preventive Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, 1717 11th Avenue South, Room 609, Birmingham, AL 35205, (4) Department of Psychology, University of Memphis, Doctoral Student in Clinical Psychology, Behavioral Medicine Area, 3684 Philwood Ave., Memphis, TN 38122, 813-541-4196, jbuscemi@memphis.edu

African-American men are disproportionately represented among lung cancer cases with an incidence rate 47% higher than white men (ACS, 2005). Low-income African-American men are particularly at risk due to higher smoking rates (Resnicow et al., 1996) and limited availability of appropriate cessation resources (Pederson et al., 2000). Motivational interviewing (MI) is a counseling approach designed to resolve ambivalence/elicit behavior change. MI has been used effectively with low-income African-American men concerning addictive behaviors like drugs/alcohol, but has not been extensively applied to smoking cessation with this population. The Workforce Education to Cease Addiction to Nicotine (WE CAN) pilot intervention is a worksite smoking cessation study utilizing MI tailored for blue-collar African-American men. At four worksites, 580 workers were screened for smoking history (39% current-smokers). The pilot intervention, offered to all African-American male current-smokers in service/labor positions, included four brief, scripted counseling sessions with a health educator. Two sessions were conducted via telephone and two face-to-face during which breath carbon monoxide and saliva continine samples were obtained (pre/post). Recruitment is ongoing with 23 of 30 anticipated participants completing the first session. Eight participants completed four sessions: two quit, four cut-down, and two report no change in smoking status. Qualitative data reveals most participants, regardless of smoking status, express increased motivation for cut down/cessation due to counseling. Preliminary results support the need for workplace smoking interventions specifically designed for African-American men. This presentation focuses on lessons learned during development and implementation of a smoking cessation counseling approach uniquely applied to low-income African-American men.

Learning Objectives:

• Understand the development and implementation of the WE CAN pilot intervention
• Discern the effectiveness of utilizing motivational interviewing with an African-American male population within the workplace

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Not Answered