Stopping Smokeless Tobacco Use: A Call to Action

Donald Reed,Kathy M Danberry,Nila Cobb,Brent Clark,Stephanie Lusk,Natasha Robinson,Becca Fint-Clark,Jason Rine,Zona Hutson,Elaine Bowen

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.601890

Donald Reed, Kathy M Danberry + Show 8 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.601890

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Abstract

In the United States, single smokeless tobacco use continues to increase in conjunction with the dual use of smokeless tobacco and other nicotine products. Problematically, much of the tobacco prevention literature and funding inundates tobacco users with smoking tobacco information while neglecting to provide them any information about smokeless tobacco. Meanwhile, American tobacco companies continually market new and dissolvable tobacco products targeted at non-smokers. New data suggests that smokeless tobacco use is, also, increasing in West Virginia and, in order to address this increased use, the West Virginia Extension Service recently partnered with the Division of Tobacco Prevention in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to develop a comprehensive spit tobacco curriculum for West Virginia students between third and sixth grade. This article details the development and assessment of the spit tobacco prevention curriculum and the resulting report from the initial pilot of the program. The curriculum was piloted across six counties with the participation of schools, after-school programs and 4-H clubs. After implementation, survey results demonstrate that youth have increased awareness of the health effects of smokeless tobacco. Throughout the article, we explore West Virginia's Cooperative Extension Service's response to this emerging public health issue and release a call to action for the National Cooperative Extension Services to join us in spit tobacco prevention.

Highlights

This article illustrates the development, piloting, evaluation, and implementation of the Stop Spit Tobacco Curriculum in West Virginia
In 2016, we provided the curriculum to teachers, club leaders, and community members to pilot with their young people
Upon the approval of the IRB, West Virginia University Extension Service Agents and our community partners asked permission to voluntarily administer the survey to young people who participated in the “Stop Spit Tobacco Curriculum.”

Summary

INTRODUCTION

This article illustrates the development, piloting, evaluation, and implementation of the Stop Spit Tobacco Curriculum in West Virginia. The West Virginia Extension Service partnered with the Division of Tobacco Prevention in the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources to develop a comprehensive spit tobacco curriculum for West Virginia students in Grades 3–6. “The Body: Tobacco Bad Effects,” was designed to educate students about the dangers of spit tobacco by showing them the ingredients within the product and explaining how the ingredients negatively impact the body, both in the short and long term. The last lesson, “Advocacy: Your Voice Counts,” taught students about advocacy—how it works and why it is important—through hands-on learning experiences and a stop spit tobacco advocacy project By focusing on these topics, we are providing students with the skills that they need to make healthy decisions regarding spit tobacco while, encouraging them to become involved citizens in tobacco prevention.

PROCEDURES

Findings

ETHICS STATEMENT