Health Communication Program Plan:

Smoke-Free Living

Theresa A. Delfino

Health Communication and Advocacy

HLTH 634

October 16, 2015

HEALTH COMMUNICATION PROGRAM PLAN OUTLINE

Title of project: Smoke-Free Living
Author: Theresa A. Delfino
Problem/Need statement: Chronic diseases are responsible for most deaths among Americans
each year, and many risk factors that contribute to the development of these diseases are
preventable.1 Tobacco was determined to be the single most preventable cause of death and
disease in the United States.1 Each day over 3,800 American young people smoke their first
cigarette before the age of 18.2 Knowing this, it is vital that emphasis is placed on preventing the
initiation of tobacco use among children and young people.
The purpose of this health communication intervention is to decrease the public health issue of
children and young people initiating smoking using the blog, Smoke-Free Living at
http://smokefreelivinggk.weebly.com/. This blog will help to educate school-age children and
teenagers about the importance of living a smoke-free lifestyle. It will provide awareness about
the benefits of living smoke-free and teach about the health risks of smoking. It is also intended
to encourage those who do smoke to quit. The health problem addressed is the initiation of
smoking among the younger population, and in particular school-age children and teenagers at
AFNorth International School. Reaching out to this age group early will help to reduce the
number of children who start to smoke each year. This objective aligns with Healthy People 2020,
which is the reduction of tobacco use and the goal to reduce illness, disability, and death related
to tobacco use and secondhand smoke exposure.1
Goal(s):
Short term To educate adolescents and teenagers about the hazards of smoking and to prevent
the initiation of smoking among this population.
Long term - This intervention will be implemented and incorporated into each Health Education
class resulting in a decline in the number of youths initiating smoking.
Objectives:
Short term - By the end of this semester, 90% of Mrs. Crows 6th - 12th grade Health Education
students will learn about smoking prevention, and will promote this message to their peers by
taking part in the Smoking Prevention Awareness campaign through their poster submissions in
the advertisement competition.
Long term - Within 2 years, the public health issue of children initiating smoking at AFNorth
International School will be reduced by 75%.
Sponsoring agencies: Health Promotions Office and the AFNorth International School
Contact person: Ms. Judy Crow, Health Education teacher/Adolescent Support and Counseling
Services (ASACS). The ACACS counselors role is to assist students who experience problems
with alcohol, drugs, or tobacco, so prevention is the key to reducing these issues. The
intervention plan to prevent the initiation of smoking will include a poster advertisement

competition using the information provided in the Smoke-Free Living blog to promote smoking
prevention
Primary target audience(s):
The intended primary target audience is the adolescent and teenage population, 6-12th graders in
Ms. Crows Health Education class. Adolescence is an important stage in childrens lives because
are going through many developmental changes and are more susceptible to environmental
influences.3
Behavioral: The media plays an important role in influencing adolescent behavior because
they are frequent users of the media.4 Smoking is advertised in movies and magazines
which promote a positive attitude about smoking, and children are more vulnerable to the
influences of the media.4
Cultural: Children who have troubled relationships with their parents are more likely to
smoke.3 They can use smoking as a means of rebelling towards their parents. 5 On the
other hand, having an open and comfortable relationship promotes a positive influence on
smoking abstinence.5
Demographic: Children living in a household with both parents are significantly less likely
to smoke than living with a single parent or with someone other than parents.6
Physical: Adolescent brains are not fully developed so this may affect their decisionmaking skills and allow for more exposure to risky behavior.7 This helps to explain why
children would choose to initiate smoking despite the known hazards to health.
Psychographic: Female adolescents who started smoking were found to be concerned
about body weight, and used smoking as a diet strategy when depression symptoms were
also present.8
Primary target key strategies:
Audience - 6th-12th grade students at AFNorth International School
Action/Message Smoking Prevention; Smoking causes health problems
Using the blog to educate children and young people about living a smoke-free lifestyle is
an innovative and proven method of influencing healthy behaviors.9 Younger populations
usually prefer this type of web-based program or the Internet to learn because it provides
anonymity, it is simple to use, and it is self-paced.9 The blog provides information on the
health benefits of living smoke-free, the hazards of smoking, and resources on smoking
cessation. There will also be an advertisement poster competition to promote the smokefree concept and to encourage this target audience to help spread the health message to
their peers. Health communication among peers should have a stronger impact because
they are often influenced by their friends, and it should help to decrease the rate of schoolage children and teenagers who initiate smoking.
Barriers peer pressure; curiosity and desire to experiment; have bad role models such as
parents; brain is not fully developed so they make bad choices4
Benefits teaches children about how to maintain good health; saves money by not
smoking; prevents chronic health problems; assists them in making smart choices in living
a healthy lifestyle. This is essential since they are at the age where their brains are not fully
developed so they are more likely to make bad choices.7 They will also be able to visit the
Web site in privacy, it is easy to maneuver, and fun since it is interactive
Credentials Health Promotions Coordinator is a subject matter expert on smoking

prevention and tobacco cessation and is able to counsel smokers who want to quit
Channel Blog, in-person visit to the classes, seminar

Secondary Target Audience/Target Key Strategies:

Audience - Parents of the children being taught are the secondary target audience because
they are influential in their childrens behavior as well as role models.
Action/Message Smoking Prevention, Tobacco Cessation, Being a Good Role Model
Invite parents to attend the seminar; assist children with creating posters and getting
involved with promoting health
Barriers parents may be smokers: addicted to nicotine, have lack of motivation to quit
Benefits gets parents involved; inspires smoking parents to quit: improves health, saves
money, sets good examples
Credentials Health Promotions Coordinator is a subject matter expert on smoking
prevention and tobacco cessation and is able to counsel smokers who want to quit
Channel blog, flyer for the Health Promotions Office, seminar
Pretest strategy: A pretest on an informational brochure was conducted on five AFNorth
International School students whose ages ranged from 12 15 years old. A questionnaire was
distributed to these students to pretest the brochure with the message of smoking prevention.
Responses from the questionnaires indicated the appropriateness of the brochure to the target
audience and relayed intended message. The brochure will be used to teach the student about
smoking prevention and will provide material they can use for the poster competition.
A pretest on the blog will be conducted by asking at least ten children between the grades of 6-12
to preview the Web site and answer the questions on the What did you think? page on the blog.
It has only three easy and brief questions that will help in dentermining if the blog is helpful and
easy to use for this age group.
Theoretical foundation: the Social Cognitive Theory was used as a framework for this
intervention because it involves behavior which is influenced by personal factors and the
environment.10 It also involves observational learning which is true for adolescents and teenagers
who are influenced by their parents and their peers. This theory explains how changes in any of
these factors will cause changes in other health behaviors.10

Management Chart and Timetable

Project Title:

Smoke-Free Living
Tasks

Due
Date
8/30/15

Responsible
Person
Teri Delfino

Status

Create blog for planned intervention

Contact Ms. Crow at AFNorth International School to 91/15

organize dates for classroom visit and seminar
Order promotional items to give away during
9/1/15
classroom visits and at seminar.
Create a 30-sec Public Service Announcement about
9/20/15
the dangers of smoking

Teri Delfino

Teri Delfino

Teri Delfino

Send out press release for the Junky Lungs Prevention 9/27/15
Seminar.

Teri Delfino

Create age-appropriate brochures for smoking

prevention

10/1/15

Teri Delfino

Promote Smoke-Free Living Campaign at the Junky

Lungs Prevention Seminar. Provide simple tutorial on
how to use the blog.
Continuously update blog and answer emails received
about blog

10/8/15

Teri Delfino
Judy Crow

ongoing

Teri Delfino

Arrange to make classroom visits to discuss the

smoking prevention poster campaign/competition

10/20/15

Teri Delfino
Judy Crow

10

Make classroom visit to announce winners of poster

competition and present prizes; reinforce smoking
prevention and encourage healthy behaviors
Re-engage with Ms. Crow about planning for next
class

11/19/15

Teri Delfino
Judy Crow

12/1/15

Teri Delfino

3
4

11

Status:
P = Planned
X = In Progress
C = Completed

Budget:
One-year projection on costs associated with advertising and promotion:
Itemized unit costs
I Promise Not to Smoke Wristbands
$51.96/100
Too Bright to Smoke glow in the dark dog tags
$112.00/100
Too Bright to Smoke glow in the dark pencils
$ 41.95/100
Weebly Domain Usage Cost
$86.40/year
Total costs
Promotional items $205.90
Web site cost/year $ 86.40
Misc. materials
$100.00
Total costs
$392.30
The budget of $392.30 will cover the low overhead of using the Web site and Smoking Prevention
promotional items given to children during the classroom visits and for giveaways at the seminar.
Resources:
Personnel The Health Promotions Coordinator will conduct the intervention in collaboration
with the Health Education Teacher/ASACS counselor at AFNorth International School.
Equipment - Inflatable swine lungs, which will be brought from the Health Promotions office, will
be used for demonstrations to provide visual aid during the Junky Lungs seminar.
Supplies - Promotional items to give away are ordered from Positive Promotions, prizes for the
poster competition are donated from Health Promotions, and poster boards and coloring supplies
for poster competition are purchased from Staples.
Transportation A personal car is required to drive to the school.
Issues of concern/potential problems:
Scheduling may be a potential problem because the classroom visit must be coordinated with the
schedule of the Health Education class and follow the curriculum so that the intervention is
implemented at the appropriate time. The short amount of classroom time might be a limiting
factor for implementing the program.
Evaluation strategies:
Formative
A literature review was conducted to determine the best strategies for reaching this target
audience before implementing the intervention, and then it will be measured to see how well the
message was received and how well it meets expectations. Questions will be asked periodically
during the presentation to determine if the students grasped the concept of the intervention.
Summative
A rubric will be provided to students before they begin creating their posters so they know what is
expected of them. It also helps for judging the posters for creativity, message, and use of
drawings and words to deliver the message. Another way is to use before-and-after studies, by
distributing questionnaires to the students in the class before the intervention and then again later
after the intervention to the same students. The information gathered would help to determine if
the intervention was effective by showing change in knowledge, attitude, or behavior (depending
on the questions); or show a need for revision due to no change.11 This type of evaluation is
inexpensive and does not require much time to conduct. Limitations in the evaluation design may

include: small sampling due to a small amount of students in the classes or inaccurate results due
to false responses on questionnaires.11
The Social Cognitive Theory can be used in the evaluation by showing how a change in one factor
(personal or environmental) will influence change in health behaviors through observational
learning.11 Since peer influence is a consistent predictor of smoking onset among adolescents,
the outcome evaluation plan can measure if there has been a change in behaviors or attitudes in
smoking. 4(133) It would be appropriate to use a health communication plan that allows students
to promote healthy behaviors to their friends and classmates based on past studies, but the
evaluation would measure if it was indeed an effective method using this particular intervention.

References:
1. Tobacco use. Healthy People 2020 Web site: www.healthypeople.gov. Updated August 23, 2015.
Accessed September 1, 2015.

2. Preventing tobacco use among youth and young adults. A Report of the Surgeon General.
Executive Summary. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2012.

3. Adolescent Health. Healthy People 2020 Web site: www.healthy people.gov. Accessed
September 1, 2015.
4. Villanti A, Boulay M, Juon HS. Peer, parent and media influences on adolescent smoking
by developmental stage. Addictive Behaviors. 2011; 36:133-136.
5. Maggi S, Lovato CY, Hill EM, Lohnson JL, Ratner PA, Shoveller JA. Adolescents
perceptions of parental influences on their smoking behavior: A content analysis. Youth &
Society. 2014; 46(1):132-149.
6. Tauras JA, Huang J, Chaloupka FJ. Differential impact of tobacco control policies on
youth sub-population. Int. J. of Environ Res. Public Health.2013; 10: 4306-4322.
7. Smith DW, Colwell B, Lee J. Opportunities for adolescent tobacco cessation:
Developmental and ecological perspectives. Curr Cardiovasc Risk Rep. 2013; 7:453456.
8. Rodriguez OG, Suarez-Vaquez R, Santonja-Gomez FJ, Secades-Villa R, Sanchez-Hervas
E. Psychosocial risk factors for adolescent smoking: A school-based study. International
Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology. 2011; 11(1):23-33.
9. De jong SDJ, Candel M, Segaar D, Cremers HP, de Vries H. Efficacy of a web-based
computer-tailored smoking prevention intervention for Dutch adolescents: Randomized
control trial. J. Med. Internet Res. 2014; 16(3). ISSN 1438-8871.
10. Making Health Communication Programs Work. U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services. National Institutes of Health. http://www.cancer.gov/publications/healthcommunication/pink-book.pdf. Accessed September 14, 2015.
11. Making Health Communication Programs Work. U.S. Department of Health & Human
Services. National Cancer Institute. http://www.cancer.gov/publications/healthcommunication/pink-book.pdf. Accessed October 1, 2015.