Lowell General Hospital - Tobacco Education for Public Schools

Overview

Lowell General Hospital, in partnership with the Greater Lowell Health Alliance (GLHA), helped launch an effort to recruit volunteers from the community who would be willing to be trained to go into Lowell public schools to provide this much-needed tobacco education to students. Tobacco education training is provided to volunteers who are health and education professionals from Lowell General Hospital, Lowell Community Health Center, and UMass Lowell.

Impact

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20.8 percent of all adults smoke, and the numbers are even higher in younger age groups. Nationwide, 22.3 percent of high school students and 8.1 percent of middle school age students smoke. In Lowell, the number of individuals that smoke is four times greater than the state average. Approximately 1,000 students benefit from the tobacco education program each year. It is presented to students at or before the time young people start the smoking habit. It is important to reach these children at an early age to help them make good decisions that will affect their health for the rest of their lives.

Challenges/success factors

The program is currently presented in eight schools. Coordinating schedules with the schools so that the program is conducted in November around the Great American Smoke Out day is sometimes a challenge. However, the success of this program is through the hospital’s partnership with the Substance Use and Prevention Task Force of the GLHA, which includes several key stakeholders including the hospital and representatives from the Lowell public schools. A staff person was hired who is able to coordinate schedules with the schools and trainings for volunteers. This individual is also responsible for entering all of the data we collect to measure our success. A pre- and post-test is given to the students to measure the increase in knowledge of our program; over the past several years, there has been an increase between 12 and 14 percent.

Future direction/sustainability

The program was launched three years ago with a $15,000 grant from Lowell General’s TeamWalk for CancerCare. Ongoing expenses are minimal and are covered by the hospital and partner organizations. However, the hospital and the GLHA are currently seeking grant opportunities to expand the program to private schools and to schools in nearby communities. Additionally, a smoking cessation program is under consideration for the high school population.

Advice to others

It is important to know who your audience is. Students in the fifth grade do not have a long attention span, and they like things to be interactive. Therefore,  our program runs approximately one hour, and we incorporate many props and several opportunities for the students to participate. It is also important to make it a community-wide effort, so the hospital has partnered with the GLHA to bring this program into the schools.

Contact: Amanda Kiernan
Community Health and Wellness
Telephone: 978-788-7368
E-mail: amanda.kiernan@lowellgeneral.org