Addressing cultural sensitivity in a smoking cessation intervention: Development of the kick it at swope project

There are marked and growing disparities in the health status among differe nt racial/ethnic groups. Most researchers and practitioners agree health in terventions that are tailored for specific populations are ethically import ant and more likely to succeed, get there are few models for how to tailor interventions. This article outlines three phases and eight activities cond ucted to increase the cultural sensitivity of a clinical trial assessing th e efficacy of bupropion for smoking cessation among African Americans. Earl y in the project development (Phase I) a strong partnership was built with a community-based clinic, two Advisory Boards were formed (Community and Sc ientific), and materials were developed. Formative research (Phase II) incl uded a survey to assess smoking cessation needs of clinic patients and expl oratory focus groups. Through Pilot testing (Phase III), clinic patients te sted the intervention components and, in follow-up focus groups, discussed their experiences. Over 13 months the project successfully recruited 523 Af rican Americans into a randomized trial, and preliminary analysis suggest a cceptable follow-up rates. Successful recruitment and retention suggests th e activities are promising and Potentially generalizable. Discussions of th ese activities illustrate concrete steps researchers and practitioners can take to increase the cultural sensitivity of health promotion and preventio n interventions and clinical trials. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.