Introduction

Nurses work from different theoretical basis from patient-centered to holistic and chronic disease approaches. These approaches are all based on the need and the responsibility to promote health in individuals and the community. Through health promotion, nurses provide patients with information to improve their health. Nurses promote and advocate for change in the community by adopting health-promoting behaviors. Nurses have relevant knowledge regarding health-promoting activities. Considering the role undertaken by nurses in the community, they are in a significant position to help patients engage in health-promoting activities that seek to prevent illnesses, promote health, maintain their health, restore health or rehabilitation (Ross et al., 2017). Throughout the life span, nurses employ different strategies to promote health. This paper seeks to develop an educational health promotion project to decrease tobacco use by adults. Decreasing the use of tobacco among adults is a health-promoting activity in that tobacco use is associated with several health issues.

Topic and Target Population

The topic is reducing the use of tobacco among adults. Specifically, the health promotion project will focus on reducing the smoking of cigarettes.  Smoking cigarettes is one of many ways through which tobacco is used. By reducing the smoking of cigarettes by adults, the use of tobacco will be reduced. According to the CDC, cigarette smoking contributes to more than 480,000 deaths yearly. In 2018, 14% of adults (aged 18 years and above) in the U.S. smoked cigarettes. More than 34.2 million adults are smoking cigarettes, and more than 16 million live with at least one smoking-related disease. The target cultural population for the project are African Americans living in the U.S. The Black Americans smoke less cigarettes and initiate smoking at an older age but have a higher probability of dying from smoking that the whites and Hispanics (Sakuma et al., 2016). Again, Black Americans children are more likely to be exposed to second-hand smoking that any other racial group, and 72.8% of the African Americans smokers’ indicate the want to quit smoking (Rolle et al., 2016).

The project thus seeks to take advantage of the willingness to quit to take the African Americans smokers through the process of quitting and lead a healthier life. One of the significant objectives of the Healthy People 2020 program is to decrease cigarette smoking for 18 years and above adults. As per the Healthy People program, 20.6% of all adults were smoking cigarettes by 2008, and the objective is to decrease this rate to 12% by 2020 (ODPHP, n.d). By 2017, the rate of African American smokers was 14.8%. With the target of the Healthy People 2020 being 12%, reducing smoking by African American adults will contribute to the achievement of this target.

Summary of articles

Lautner, Garney & Harney (2018) argued that while 23% of African American men die as a result of cancer, both lung and prostate cancers are the major contributors and are both related to cigarette smoking. The primary cause of smoking among this population includes psychological stressors such as unemployment, poverty, and long term injury. In reducing the smoking behavior, the researchers found that while social norms do not encourage the behavior, they do not also encouraging quitting. Significant strategies to encourage quitting were found to be using environmental cues such as print advertisement, focusing on group behavior change as opposed to individual behavior change policies that address the placement of cigarettes.

Hartmann-Boyce, Begh & Aveyard (2018) have argued that e-cigarettes were initially designed to aid in smoking cessation. In Britain, 60% of adult smokers have tried using an e-cigarette, and only 18% are presently using. In England, 40% of those seeking to quit smoking use e-cigarettes. The use of e-cigarettes containing nicotine can aid people to stop smoking for six to twelve months. Thus, when used together with other approaches, it can be helpful in reducing the number of adult smokers in the U.S.

Caraballo et al. (2017) investigated the methods used by smokers to try and quit smoking between the years 2014 and 2016 in the United States and found that giving up smoking at once and reducing gradually are the most prevalent methods employed. Other methods included using e-cigarettes, nicotine gum, and nicotine patch. Only 15.2% of those seeking to quit sought help from a doctor. However, the use of e-cigarettes was high than the use of approved cessation aids.

The information from these articles is used to develop an effective method of helping smokers to quit smoking. For example, while the use of e-cigarettes has been on the rise, the effects of its use are unknown, which puts the methods at risk. Thus, this form of strategy was not employed. However, other ways, such as the use of FDA approved medications have been used.

Health promotion

One of the major approaches that will be employed to educate the target population is through vicarious learning. At the heart of this approach is motivation. This learning works when people learn through the experiences of other people and are motivated to adopt a specific behavior (Sumpter, Gibson & Porath, 2017). To achieve a good outcome, people from the target population who have previously managed to quit smoking will be asked to talk to smokers’ through organized meetings. This is set to help smokers see quitting as a possibility. When attempting to change a behavior, psychological warfare is the most important aspect, which is what this strategy seeks to achieve. Considering that most of the African Americans are willing to quit, organizing meetings will be effective. Once smokers are psychologically prepared to quit, then will then be educated on different FDA approved tools to use and how to use them effectively.

However, to promote lifestyle changes, addressing the causes of smoking will be required. Identifying and addressing the major causes of smoking will be effective in promoting lifestyle changes. Major causes of smoking within African Americans include psychological factors such as poverty and unemployment. Policy measures looking to addresses these needs will be effective in ensuring African Americans more so those looking to quit cigarette smoking are able to quit successfully. While the unemployment rate for Africans Americans has reduced today, it has remained high historically, which can explain why older people are more into smoking that the younger generation. Policy measures addressing the needs of this older generation will help in reducing smoking.

Conclusion

With the Healthy People 2020 program looking to reduce the rate of adult smoking gin the U.S to 12% by 2020, reducing the rate of smokers within the African American population will aid in the achievement of this objective. Most of the African Americans are willing and trying to quit cigarette smoking as compared to other ethnic groups. By motivating smokers psychologically to quit smoking by employing the experience of those who have to succeed and then teaching them to use the FDA approved aids, the rate of cigarette smoking in this population will be reduced.

References

Caraballo, R. S., Shafer, P. R., Patel, D., Davis, K. C., & McAfee, T. A. (2017). Peer reviewed: quit methods used by US adult cigarette smokers, 2014–2016. Preventing chronic disease, 14.

CDC. (2019). Current Cigarette Smoking Among Adults in the United States. Retrieved 26 November 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm

Hartmann-Boyce, J., Begh, R., & Aveyard, P. (2018). Electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation. Bmj, 360, j5543.

Lautner, S. C., Garney, W. R., & Harney, I. S. (2018). Addressing the Needs of African American Male Smokers Through Community Outreach and Tailored Smoking Cessation Strategies. American journal of men’s health, 12(6), 2055-2063.

ODPHP. Tobacco Use | Healthy People 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2019, from https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/tobacco-use/objectives

Rolle, I. V., Beasley, D. D., Kennedy, S. M., Rock, V. J., & Neff, L. (2016). National surveys and tobacco use among African Americans: a review of critical factors. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 18(suppl_1), S30-S40.

Ross, A., Bevans, M., Brooks, A. T., Gibbons, S., & Wallen, G. R. (2017). Nurses and health-promoting behaviors: Knowledge may not translate into self-care. AORN journal, 105(3), 267-275.

Sakuma, K. L. K., Felicitas-Perkins, J. Q., Blanco, L., Fagan, P., Pérez-Stable, E. J., Pulvers, K., … & Trinidad, D. R. (2016). Tobacco use disparities by racial/ethnic groups: California compared to the United States. Preventive medicine, 91, 224-232.

Sumpter, D. M., Gibson, C. B., & Porath, C. (2017). Act expediently, with autonomy: Vicarious learning, empowered behaviors, and performance. Journal of Business and Psychology, 32(2), 131-145.