Twelve-Month Outcomes of a Group-Randomized Community Health Advocate-Led Smoking Cessation Intervention in Public Housing

Abstract

In order to narrow the large and growing socioeconomic disparity in smoking rates, more effective cessation interventions are needed for low-income smokers. Individual culturally-relevant coaching provided in smokers' residences may help overcome the heightened barriers to cessation experienced by this group of smokers. In this study among smokers residing in public housing, an intervention delivered by peer health advocates trained in motivational interviewing, basic smoking cessation skills, and client navigation significantly increased abstinence at 12 months. Future research should address whether these findings are replicable in other settings both within and outside of public housing.

Evaluation of a culturally appropriate peer coaching program for smoking cessation

“…Our findings add to the limited literature demonstrating the effectiveness of community‐based peer coaching approaches for smoking cessation (Brooks et al., ; Dickerson et al., ; Malchodi et al., ). Malchodi and colleagues utilized peer coaches for smoking cessation in a randomized controlled trial.…”

“…Women who received peer counseling services smoked significantly fewer cigarettes, but abstinence rates did not differ between groups (Malchodi et al., ). Another randomized controlled study recruited both CHWs and participants from an urban housing project (Brooks et al., ). In this study, participants (56% Black, 25% Latino) who received targeted interventions had higher quit rates than those in the control group who received only written materials and one visit from peer tobacco treatment advocates (Brooks et al., ).…”

“…Smoking cessation interventions administered by lay community workers have also been effective in some Latino subgroups (Woodruff, Candelaria, & Elder, ). A recent randomized controlled trial found that housing project residents who received targeted smoking cessation interventions administered by peer advocates had higher smoking abstinence rates than those in the control group (Brooks et al., ). Another study demonstrated higher rates of smoking cessation in a diverse sample of young adults who received a video‐based peer coaching intervention than those who received only written information (An et al., ).…”

Randomized Trial of Motivational Interviewing to Prevent Early Childhood Caries in Public Housing

“…These strategies are designed to resolve ambivalence, increase motivation, and take steps toward enacting healthy behaviors (Miller and Rollnick 2002). MI has been applied successfully to a variety of health behaviors and in ethnically diverse populations, including substance abuse (Vasilaki et al 2006), smoking (Borrelli et al 2010;Brooks et al 2017), diet (Armstrong et al 2011), physical activity (Hardcastle et al 2008), glycemic control (Channon et al 2007), oral health (Weinstein et al 2004(Weinstein et al , 2006, and medication adherence (Drymalski and Campbell 2009). Early MI studies aimed at ECC prevention were positive (Weinstein et al 2004); however, more recent studies had mixed results (Gao et al 2014;Albino and Tiwari 2016).…”

Socioeconomic Influences on Affordable Housing Residents: Problem Definition and Possible Solutions

“…We focused specifically on obesity and smoking as two key behaviors that are amendable to change but that are double to triple the rates among public housing residents compared with other urban dwellers, given their role in promotion of chronic disease rates in the United States [7,8]. Our smoking research has taken the form of development and resident-based smoking policies that restrict or limit smoking exposure among all residents of public housing [9]. We now promote smoke-free housing across the country and assist other public and affordable housing settings to go smoke-free [10].…”