African-Americans bear a disproportionate burden of tobacco-related diseases and death compared to the general population. Tobacco kills 47,300 African Americans every year. Relatively little data is collected on 18-24 year olds, since they can legally smoke and chronically underuse evidence-based cessation interventions. Comprehensive policies supporting tobacco prevention and cessation can lead to improved health outcomes. Truth Initiative is supporting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) as they implement comprehensive tobacco-free campus policies. These colleges serve predominately low-socioeconomic communities, with disproportionately high smoking rates. The HBCU Initiative focuses on task force building, capacity-building for conducting assessments, student-led activism campaigns, education about tobacco products, provision of cessation services, and policy development to reduce smoking rates and exposure to secondhand smoke. This session will outline The HBCU Tobacco-Free Campus Initiative and two technology platforms supporting student advocacy/activism (Ning social network) and smoking cessation (This is Quitting mobile app/text messaging program).

1. The Tobacco-Free
HBCU Initiative:
Utilizing Student-Driven Technology to
Support Comprehensive Campus Policy
Megan Jacobs & Denise Smith
Truth Initiative

2. • Megan Jacobs and Denise Smith are both
employees of Truth Initiative, a non-profit
public health foundation that runs
BecomeAnEX.org, a web-based smoking
cessation program and This is Quitting, a
mobile smoking cessation program.
Disclosures

3. BACKGROUND

4. • National non-profit based in Washington,
DC
• Mission of achieving a culture where all
youth and young adults reject tobacco.
Truth Initiative Broadly

5. • Speak
– Public education campaigns through print, digital, and
social media
• Seek
– Evaluation of Truth Initiative programs + Schroeder
Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies
• Spread
– Community & Youth engagement Activism
What We Do

6. Young Adults + Tobacco

7. • 47,300 African Americans die from smoking-
related disease annually.
• While the overall use of cigarettes by youth in the
U.S. has declined, smoking among ethnic
minorities remains a public health imperative.
• Targeted by tobacco industry
• Poorer health outcomes
• Lower SES
• Heavier use of higher-risk products (e.g., menthol)
African-Americans + Tobacco

8. • Young Adults have highest rates of alcohol,
tobacco and other drug use relative to any
other age group.
• With 99% of smokers starting before age 26,
college campuses are critical partners to
reduce young adults from starting tobacco
use, and help tobacco users quit.
Toll of Tobacco + Young Adults

9. • Cessation efforts complicated by:
– Complex social/emotional transitions
– Heterogeneity in smoking patterns
• “Limited evidence demonstrating efficacy of smoking-
cessation interventions for U.S. young adults”
• YA are interested in quitting (66.7%) and have made past-
year quit attempts (62.4%) but…
– High rates of failure
– Few effective interventions developed specifically for YA
Young Adults + Quitting

10. The HBCU Initiative
• First of its kind initiative to develop and
implement smoke- or tobacco-free campus
policies on all Historically Black Colleges
and Universities (HBCUs)
• A multi-organizational collaborative project
led by Former U.S. Surgeon General Dr.
Regina Benjamin
• Truth Initiative has established this program,
with our partners, as an opportunity to take
action in tobacco control efforts focused on
youth and young adults

11. HBCU + TECHNOLOGY

12. Ning: Social Learning Community

13. Benefit of Ning

14. • “I wonder who knows about third hand
smoke? I know Concordia College will
know really soon. #tobaccofreehbcu
#SpreadTruth”
• “The total economic burden of smoking
in the U.S. exceeds $300 billion annually.
#Spreadtruth #TobaccoFreeHBCU
#TobaccoFreeBison”
• “I always fake cough when I see
someone smoking a cigarette. I knew
someone would share my sentiment.
#TobaccoFreeHBCU #SpelmanCollege”
HBCU
Social Media Promo

15. • They don’t want me to win because…
• Tobacco advertisements are placed at
eye level in low income communities to
target young black children.
• Nearly one in every ten African American
women report smoking during pregnancy
due to addiction.
• #SmokeFreeFAMU #TobaccoFreeHBCU
#SpreadTruth”
Posts

16. Posts

17. • Twitter and Instagram
• #spreadtruth #TobaccoFreeHBCU
• Results
– 460 total posts on Twitter and Instagram
– 70% of posts through Twitter
– 321.11K total impressions (number of times
users saw the campaign)
• Winners: Howard University and Texas
College
Social media > Twitter/ IG

18. This is Quitting: App

19. • Interactive
– Multiple scheduled messages/day
– Q&A format
• Can include hyperlinks
• Tailored to quitting progress
– Set a quit date
– Messages tailored to quit date
• Keyword-based support
• Enrollment by SMS:
text QUITNOW to ###-###-####
• Evidence-based method
This is Quitting: SMS

20. Benefit of This is Quitting
School login + reports Custom number Identifier + relevant msgs

21. • The application period is open from March
20th through April 29th
• Programmatic start date: June 1st
• $7500 grant
• Technical assistance
• Toolkits
Current Grant Opportunities

22. • Megan Jacobs
mjacobs@truthinitiative.org
@TheMeganJacobs
• Denise Smith
dsmith@truthinitiative.org