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Learning Objective 1: Describe the smoking attitudes and patterns of freshmen undergraduate college students.
Learning Objective 2: Identify evidenced based practice (EBP) strategies that can influence smoking attitudes and behaviors of undergraduate college students.
In the U. S., smoking tobacco remains the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality (CDC, 2009). Despite efforts to warn individuals about hazards of smoking, there continues to be an increase in the number of young adults who smoke. A nationwide survey of college students determined that 27% of the participants smoked in the past month (SAMHSA, 2009). Thus, the intention of this EPB project was to answer the PICO question: How does a multifaceted smoking abstinence strategy implemented on a university campus influence smoking attitudes and behaviors of young adult college students? The Iowa Model of Evidenced-Based Practice to Promote Quality Care (Titler et al., 2001) provided the framework and the Transtheoretical Model (Prochaska and DiClemente, 1983) provided the behavioral change theory for this project. The population of interest consisted of full-time freshmen students at a private Midwestern university during the fall semester of 2010. Based on the current evidence the multifaceted strategy included: (a) an orientation session on the tobacco free campus and smoking cessation resources on campus, (b) anti-tobacco marketing strategy sessions held in the freshman resident halls, (c) placement of the peer identified anti-tobacco marketing strategies on campus, (d) distribution of quit kits that included information about smoking cessation resources, and (e) peer mentoring support for students who smoke. Evaluation of change outcomes was assessed through pre and post-project web-based survey. It is hoped that this project will have a positive effect on smoking attitudes, curtailing initiation of smoking behaviors, support progression through the stages of change, and increase cessation of smoking in young adult college students. It is anticipated that findings from this project will provide information and support to health care providers who want to influence smoking behaviors of young adult college students.
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