A TRIAL OF CHURCH-BASED SMOKING CESSATION INTERVENTIONS FOR RURAL AFRICAN-AMERICANS

Background The Alliance of Black Churches Health Project was begun in an effort to address the health problems of the African-American resid ents of two rural Virginia counties. Smoking cessation was chosen as t he principal target behavior in one county. Church coalitions were cho sen as the principal organizations through which to implement the inte rventions. Method. A smoking cessation program was designed that combi ned one-on-one counseling with self-help materials and community-wide activities. To provide these services, up to two smoking cessation cou nselors were trained from participating churches. To evaluate the impa ct, population-based cohorts of smokers were assembled in each county using a door-to-door survey. Respondents were recontacted after 18 mon ths. Smoking cessation (1-month continuous abstinence), stages of chan ge, and exposure to the interventions were assessed. Results. The over all smoking prevalence at baseline was 25.8%. At follow-up, the smokin g cessation rate in the intervention county was 9.6% and in the contro l county 5.4% (P = 0.18). Among those at-tending church once a month o r more, the respective quit rates were 10.5% and 5.9% (P = 0.20). Ther e was significantly more progress along the stages of change in the in tervention than in the control county. There was also higher awareness of and contact with smoking cessation programs in the former compared with the latter. Conclusion. Smoking cessation interventions for Afri can Americans can be successfully implemented through a church coaliti on. The interventions were associated with significant progress along the stages of cessation. Although the quit rate was higher in the inte rvention community, the difference was not significant. (C) 1997 Acade mic Press.