The Problem Commercial cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S., responsible for approximately 480,000 deaths annually. American Indians have the highest commercial cigarette smoking prevalence of any racial/ethic group. Although smoking prevalence has declined over the past several decades, the same improvement has not been observed among American Indians. American Indians have also been the most underrepresented population in all biomedical research, including smoking cessation studies. Unfortunately, there are very few effective culturally tailored cessation programs for American Indian smokers. The Approach To address this challenge, we obtained funding from the National Institutes of Health to conduct a clusterrandomized clinical trial. We used community-based participatory research approach with the American Indian communities in the Southern and Northern Plains regions to develop a culturally-tailored smoking cessation program: All Nations Breath of Life (ANBL) American Indian community members were equal collaborators in the development, implementation, and evaluation ANBL is tailored to meet the needs of individuals and communities ANBL components include: Individual and group sessions led by an American Indian facilitator Culturally tailored educational curriculum (9 sessions over 6 months) Pharmacotherapy or nicotine-replacement therapy Addressing Tobacco-Related Health Disparities Through Targeted Interventions “Reducing health disparities in underserved and minoritized populations is our priority.” - Won Choi, PhD Short Term Impact This study was the one of the largest multisite randomized clinical trial for smoking cessation among American Indians. Participants in the ANBL intervention group were approximately twice as likely to quit smoking at both 12 weeks and 6 months compared to the non-tailored group. Longer Term Impact Provide an evidence based culturally tailored smoking cessation program for American Indians in other regions. Provide strategies for recruitment and retention of American Indians into other health behavior studies. Societal Impact Funding would support the dissemination and implementation of ANBL and other culturallytargeted interventions for this underserved community. This work has societal impact in the following areas: For more information visit https://health.lehigh.edu/research-partners or email INRSRCH@lehigh.edu 8 Community/Culture: Promote health by providing effective smoking cessation interventions while preserving cultural importance of tobacco. Policy: Provides evidence to assist American Indian communities to reduce smoking prevalence.
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