Suchergebnisse

Background. This article provides a description and evaluation of a community-sponsored smoking cessation contest. Adapted from previous efforts, "Quit to Win" relied solely on community resources and was promoted to the two million residents of San Diego County, California. Methods. A large recruitment campaign included print and electronic media. Eight hundred and two smokers participated in the contest. Contest entry forms served as the pretreatment measure, quit cards measured smoking status, and follow-up telephone interviews collected additional data on three groups: joiners, nonjoiners, and comparison subjects. Results. Thirty-five percent of the participants reported being smoke-free two months after the program. Television was by far the most effective promotional medium, while individuals who received a promotional flyer were somewhat more likely to actually join the contest than those who heard of it through other sources. Self-confidence, outcome expectations, and lighter smoking habit were predictive of contest participation. Of joiners, those with a greater fear of suffering from withdrawal were less likely to quit. Discussion. The approximate cost per quitter was $17.25 based on the direct budget expenses for the contest. However, this does not include the significant cost of the many donated services. Large smoking cessation contests can be cost-effective while providing direct and indirect benefits to anti-tobacco efforts.

Purpose. Project Salsa was a community-based effort seeking to promote health through nutritional behavior change in a Latino community of San Diego, California. The purpose of this article is to report on program factors related to long-term institutionalization of Project Salsa interventions. Design. Project Salsa was a demonstration rather than an experimental project. To ensure maximum sensitivity to the needs and values of the community, Project Salsa began with an extensive health needs assessment, including development of an advisory council, telephone survey, archival research, and key informant interviews. Setting. Project Salsa interventions took place in San Ysidro, California, located near the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to Tijuana from 1987 to 1992. Subjects. The intervention community had 14,500 residents, of which nearly 83% were Latino. Interventions. Interventions included coronary heart disease risk factor screenings, meal preparation classes, newspaper columns, point-of-purchase education, school health and cafeteria programs, and breast-feeding promotion. Measures. Institutionalization of intervention components. Results. Two of the interventions, the risk factor screenings and school health programs, are still in operation 4 years after the end of project funding. Conclusions. Four factors common to institutionalized components are presented in the paper.