Tobacco Control Program

Brief Motivational Interviewing is a new and innovative intervention that seeks to empathize with the smoker as a way of building trust and commitment to quitting smoking. The Student Assistance Counselors, master’s level professionals trained in substance abuse prevention, will undergo training in motivational interviewing and will perform this service at selected schools throughout Rhode Island. In addition to this technique, approximately 2,750 youth smokers have already been reached by the Student Assistant Counselors to discuss smoking cessation.

The N-O-T (Not On Tobacco) Program is a teen smoking cessation program, adapted from the American Lung Association, which is administered in various school districts throughout Rhode Island. The program is free and open to teens 14-19 years of age. Admittance is voluntary, although students may also be referred as an alternative to suspension. Qualified staff members are specially trained to teach the N-O-T Program curriculum. Student Assistance Counselors conducted 30 smoking cessation groups in 25 Rhode Island schools during the 2004-2005 school year.

Goals of the N-O-T Program include:

• Increase the number of teens who stop smoking
• Reduce the number of cigarettes smoked
• Increase healthy lifestyle behaviors
• Improve life management skills

Components of the N-O-T Program include:

• The program consists of 10 (50-minute) sessions, which meet once a week, and four follow-up sessions, which meet once every two weeks.
• The program is unique in that it addresses a variety of lifestyle behaviors and topics including smoking cessation.
• It is fun and interactive.
• Class sizes are small, with less then 12 teens per class, and gender-specific.

Topics of the N-O-T Program include:

• Stress management
• Nicotine addiction
• Cravings and relapse prevention
• Quitting support and resources
• Peer pressure

For more information about the School Tobacco Cessation programs please contact Laura Hosley, Manager of prevention and cessation services at RIEAP Student Assistance Services, at lbucklin@rieas.com.