Program Goals
How was the Youth Tobacco Use Prevention Project established?
The Youth Tobacco Use Prevention project was established through a grant from the North Carolina Health and Wellness Trust Fund (HWTF). The Health and Wellness Trust Fund makes North Carolina stronger, both physically and economically, by funding programs that promote preventive health. Created by the General Assembly in 2000 to allocate a portion of North Carolina's share of the national tobacco settlement, HWTF has invested $43 million to support preventive health initiatives and $90 million to fund a prescription drug assistance program. For more information on how preventive health is good for our lives and good for our wallets, visit http://www.healthwellnc.com/.
What are the Project’s goals?
The project aims to mobilize youth in Orange County to prevent youth from initiating tobacco use, provide cessation support for youth smokers, and eliminate youth exposure to secondhand smoke.
How does the Project accomplish its goals?
- Prevent initiation of tobacco use among youth: High school students from the Orange County School District and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District are recruited and trained to help implement a school-based peer education program. This program does the following: (1) educates kids on the heath risks associated with smoking; (2) educates tobacco merchants on the laws around the sale of tobacco products to minors; (3) involves youth in media advocacy; (4) involves youth in community outreach; and (5) trains youth to become leaders.
- Eliminate youth exposure to second hand smoke: Peer educators in Orange County (OC) identify places (homes, restaurants, public spaces) where they are exposed to SHS and develop ways to reduce exposure. Activities have included updating an existing smoke-free restaurant guide, conducting patron surveys in local establishments, and air quality monitoring.
- Promote quitting of tobacco use among youth: For those teens who are smokers, we will implement a teen tobacco-cessation program from the American Lung Association called Not On Tobacco (N-O-T). N-O-T is a stop smoking program that can help teens quit using cigarettes or reduce the number of cigarettes that they smoke. In addition, N-O-T was developed to help improve communication, problem solving, and stress management skills.
Project Manager: Pam Diggs, MPH
Orange Co. Health Department
300 W. Tryon Street
Hillsborough, NC 27278
Office: 919-245-2424 Fax: 919-644-3007