The Article About Reducing the Rate of Smoking Among Students

Prior Evaluations and Their Limitations

Another journal article on prior evaluations of interventions to reduce the rate of tobacco smoking among high school students is “Investing in Youth Tobacco Control.” The journal is a review article of smoking prevention and control strategies (Lantz et al., 1999). In the article, school-based educational interventions have been explored to reduce the rate of smoking among students in the elementary and secondary levels. The article employs three main approaches, which are as follows. The first approach entails providing information about health risks and negative consequences of tobacco among students in order to arouse concern and fear of the product. The second approach influences beliefs, attitudes, norms and intentions related to tobacco use among the students. It is done with a focus on enhancing self-esteem and clarification of values. The final approach to tobacco prevention in current article is based on a social influence resistance model. Such approach focuses on building relevant skills required to recognize and resist negative influences.

As a result, this article contributes greatly to the knowledge of prevention methods that can be used to reduce smoking among students. However, it does not provide the most effective methods that can significantly reduce smoking among the high school students. The approaches used in the article do not focus on a particular group of students, such as high school students, and, thus, they might be effective among some students and not the others.
Another article that provides prior evaluations on intervention methods to reduce the rate of smoking among high school students is “A School-Based Environmental Intervention to Reduce Smoking among High School Students.” The intervention was conducted by the Acadian Coalition of Teens against Tobacco (ACTT) (Johnson). The ACTT intervention programs included teachers attending workshops by the organization prior to the beginning of classes each year. The teachers received current facts about tobacco and were requested to encourage students’ participation in activities. In addition, the organization conducted school-based media campaign consisting of posters and Public Service Announcements (PSAs). Such campaigns were intended to deliver positive modeling, as well as verbal and pictorial persuasion among students.

Such school-based environmental interventions provided practical experimentation methods. However, the intervention methods are broad and do not target a specific group of individuals. Therefore, their efforts do not yield quantifiable good results for the course.

An Overview of the Proposed Program

The proposed program will devise intervention methods to reduce the rate of smoking among high school students in Michigan. The program will focus on Grand Blanc high school in Michigan.

Explanation of Why the Proposed Program is Unique

The proposed program is unique as it focuses on intervention methods that reduce the rate of smoking among high school students in Grand Blanc. The program is specific to a particular target. Targeting the specific group of students in Michigan area will enable precise evaluation of methods used for interventions. Replication of the methods of intervention is possible in other areas in the future. In addition, the proposed program will use specific approaches in dealing with the matter. Unlike other intervention methods discussed in the previous section, current program proposes to engage the target population in the intervention methods. The proposed program will, therefore, be inclusive in that it will use different approaches, such as counseling, physical engagement of the students and education. Such intervention methods will ensure address of all aspects relating to the issue of smoking among the students. Finally, the focus on such particular target in the intervention to reduce tobacco sets a specific tone used throughout the program. The students are mature adolescents and approach will be projected to consider the special needs of current group of people in the society.

There are various resources available for the program that will facilitate the implementation of the activities. The desired outputs and outcomes will be realized through the implementation of such activities. The intervention program will use several inputs in the implementation of the intervention process. The medical team will provide its perspective on tobacco smoking details to the students. There will also be present health educators, psychologists and guest speakers to give counseling to the students. Moreover, money will be required to cater for the expenses of the program implementation, as well as educational materials will be required to facilitate learning during the meetings.

The program will use some medium of communication, including amenities, such as food and beverages, transportation vans for participants in the program. The activities to be carried out include field trips, meetings, communicating through emails and giving lectures. The field trips will be important activities as they will serve to change the learning atmosphere of the classroom. The removal of the monotonous classroom learning will help keep the students interested in learning. Meetings will provide good forums for addressing important topics. Additionally, communication will facilitate feedback survey to determine the effectiveness of the intervention methods being used.

Population and Sample

The population in the proposed program is Grand Blanc high school students in Michigan. The sample will be drawn from the high school students who are already smoking tobacco, those who have ever smoked and those with parents and guardians who are smokers. The sample will be taken by visiting the recreational center at Geneses Hospital and picnic sites within Michigan. The target population consists of 2699 students enrolled in Grand Blanc Community High School. The sample will be drawn from such population randomly.

Outcome Evaluation Design and Tools

Schalock asserts that the program results are measured to determine its effectiveness in achieving the intended objectives. Outcome evaluation, thus, helps determine whether the program will achieve its goals. To evaluate the outcome of the program, program documents used during the intervention process will be reviewed. Moreover, qualitative methods of data collection, such as observations, interviews and focus group discussions will be used. Such outcome evaluation tools will help determine the effectiveness of the program. The data collection tools used in evaluating the effectiveness of the intervention will help determine the outcome of the program.

Process Evaluation Design Tools

The use of qualitative methods of data collection will be employed during the evaluation process. The tools will seek to find out if the program is achieving its objectives throughout the intervention process. Process evaluation design tools will include interviews and questionnaires, observations to see if the number of smokers has reduced in the school. Surveys and review questions will also be used. The target population, as well as the surrounding community will be involved in filling the data collections tools.

Ethical Considerations

It is necessary that ethical issues are considered during evaluation plan formulation, as well as implementation stage. The ethical considerations during the evaluation and implementation of current program include: informed consent, voluntary participation, no harm to participants and confidentiality. The program will also asses the relevant components necessary for intervention. The group involved in current research consists of minors. The consent of the students to participate in will be obtained from their parents and guardians. The research will also be conducted in a way that does not hurt the participants either physically or emotionally. Students will be part of the program from their own will and should volunteer to participate. The aim of the research is to bring positive impacts and, thus, all the activities will be carried out to facilitate the attainment of such objective. Through the intervention, the research will aim at improving the health of the sample students by encouraging them to cease the smoking of tobacco. The students will only participate in the activities outlined in the consent forms signed by their parents or guardians. Such intervention program aims to improve the health of the students in Grand Blanc Community high school and will be replicated in other schools if effective.

Economic Analysis (Refer to Budget and Budget Justification under Program Materials)

An economic analysis helps measure the systematic approach in determining the optimum use of resources (Morris). The budget consist of facilitators costs, educational materials, free pass membership costs, food and beverages, costs for the hired staff, transportation costs and other items. Such costs will be incurred in the undertaking of the activities in the intervention program. The staff will be assigned to account for each of the activities being undertaken. The costs stipulated in the budget are a result of prior analysis of the expenses incurred in such activities. The number of participants in the program was considered before concluding on the costs to be incurred. All the activities need to be carried out in order to realize the objective of the program.

Benefits for Stakeholders

There are various stakeholders who will benefit from the proposed program. The primary stakeholders are the high school students at Grand Blanc Community High School in Michigan. The students will learn the negative effects of smoking and the dangers that the practice can cause to their health. They will learn the importance of smoking cessation and the different ways the smokers can use to avoid it. The second stakeholders are teachers, parents and guardians of the high school students who will have self-motivated students against smoking. Researchers on the issue of smoking reduction will benefit from the knowledge acquired in the intervention program. Other stakeholders, such as the school board of directors, and sponsors, such as Geneses Hospital, will be able to inform the public, especially students on ways to reduce or cease smoking.

PROGRAM MATERIALS

Logic Model

McLaughlin & Jordan (1999) asserts that a logic model helps illustrate how the described activities result in the expected outcomes. The logic model for the program shows the various inputs required for the activities to be carried out. It also shows the various outputs from the activities and the expected outcomes for the program. The logic model for the program is a simplification of the overall intervention approach used to reduce the rate of smoking among the high school students at Grand Blanc.

Outcomes

• Medical team: One doctor from Geneses hospital
• Health Educators: 6 of the health education students from the University of Michigan.
• 2 counselor psychologist: To give the students free consolation if there are family conflicts leading to smoking.
• 3 Guest speakers who have: Lounge cancer, Replaced throat, Prevented cancer.
• Money issues and budget: Hurley foundation, University of Michigan student government, Fundraising at the university
• Educational Material: Flyers, Brochures, Posters. Free passes membership for the six month (the period of the intervention). Discount for the members after the program done for one-month membership.
• Media will needed: Facebook page to post the material so the student could print them.
• Food and beverages, Staff, Volunteering of 6 students, who will assist in organizing the meetings. Electronic cigarettes and gum.
• Transportation:vans
• Field trips: Will be performed once a month in the form of hiking, camping and picnic. Through such activities the lectures will be provided and the guest speakers involved. The goal is to make the youth more aware of the problem and reward them.
• Meetings twice a week: Once in the school for the lecture. The other one in the gym for workout and games activity.
• Send brochures and some of the educational material by mail to participants.
• Guest speakers once a month.
• Lectures: The doctors will tell students about their experiences with the patients who have cancer and explain them how serious the issue is.
• Field trips: The purpose is making students enjoy, while they are learning something new. It is a technique to convince students to quit smoking.
• Meetings – Twice a week: The first meeting will be held in a regular classroom.The second meeting will be held in the recreation center at Geneses hospital. The participants will be motivated to workout and have the ability to run and do physical activities. Through such activities thy will become aware of the differences between doing sports during smoking and the after quitting it. The aim is to show students without cigarettes they will be able to stand longer when working out, as well as avoid problems with breathing.
• The brochures and some of other educational materials will be sent by mail to participants, in order to give them tips and advices on how to follow up with the students:

Short: Success in convincing student to quit smoking.
Medium: To help student avoid breathing problems and motivate them to exercise.
Long:
-To improve the quality of life of high school participants.
-To reduce the risk of chronic diseases, cancer rates and mortality rate.

Process Evaluation Tools

According to Silverman, evaluation tools include observation, interviews and focus group discussions. In observation, information about how the program is operating will be collected in a structured manner. Data will be collected on the progress of the reduction of smoking among the high school students through observation. Direct observation will entail on-site visits to Grand Blanc Community High School. Interviews will be done in person and involve asking the participants to describe whether the program activities have an influence on smoking reduction among the students. It will involve the use of open-ended questions in order to obtain fairly accurate results. The focused group discussions will involve engaging the participants in discussions using a set of structured questions in non-threatening and harmonious settings where the students will feel free. Such focused group discussions will explore the issue of smoking reduction among the students in Grand Blanc high school. Notes will be taken from such discussions by the facilitators. The tools will be used during the process of implementation of the program. The staff will use observation methods to gather information on how the program is operating. Interviews will be conducted to determine the effectiveness of the intervention methods in reducing the rate of smoking among high school students. The focused group discussions will explore the issues of student smoking and the intervention measures used in the program. The discussions will evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention approaches.

Outcome Evaluation Tools

Osborne asserts that the outcome evaluation tools include interviews, observations, focus group discussion, surveys and document review of official records. Document review will involve collecting and reviewing existing materials written about the intervention methods to reduce the rate of smoking among students. Such materials will include journal articles and policies, as well as proposals. Questionnaires, surveys and interviews will involve collecting data directly from individuals. There will be both open-ended and close-ended questions in the questionnaires. Data from such tools will be analyzed, interpreted and findings will be presented. The results will help in identifying areas that need changes. The tools will be used at the end of the program to evaluate the outcomes. They will explore whether the program brought desirable result or not.

The questionnaire for the program will have questions on the intervention approach to reduce the rate of smoking among the high school students at Grand Blanc. The questionnaires will use the funnel technique, in which they will begin with broad general interest question, such as the student’s age. Such questions will be easy for the respondents to answer. More difficult questions will be placed in the middle. At the end, more general questions that are easier to answer will be placed in the questionnaires.

Budget Justification

The budget justification for the program is a narrative breakdown of the proposed budget and justifies the expenses identified for the project. The program will need the expert advisory from a doctor, health educators, counselor psychologist and the guest speakers. Such people will facilitate the program interventions approach. The costs of facilitators will cater for their transportation and a little stipend for each of them. Educational materials will also be required to facilitate learning. Transportation of the students to the picnics will incur additional costs, as well. The amount allocated will also facilitate the transportation of the students to the recreation center.

In addition, the program will involve the use of general stuff that will be involved in the implementation of activities set in the program. Such group of staff will also be responsible for evaluating the outcome data collected and composition of the findings. The budgetary allocation will cater for such expenses. Money will also be required for free pass membership for students to the recreational center at Geneses Hospital and the Picnic sites. Additional costs will be spent on electronic cigarettes and gum as a means of facilitating learning process. Other expenses that may arise have also to be taken into consideration in the budgetary allocation.