The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Objective: To develop a model of peer communicators program

Methods: A peer to peer approach played a central role in this study where the outcome was the development of anti-smoking strategies and messages. The peer to peer approach was used to bridge the gap in communication between the intended target group (secondary school children) and public health professionals involved in the anti tobacco use endeavor. Fourteen female students, from grade 7 to 12 (student core team), as members of the research team, participated in, the data collection, analyzing the results, and developing the anti-smoking strategies and messages. They assessed the influencing factors in tobacco use through focus group discussions (FGD) with their peers, which were used to develop anti-smoking messages and strategies. Then, with their peers, they evaluated the messages using focus group discussions.

Results: Most respondents felt that the existing anti-smoking campaigns had no impact on the smoking behavior because the messages were not appropriately targeting the audience. In this study, using the information obtained from the FGDs, the student core team developed anti-smoking messages for different media, i.e., television, specific media (clothes pins, shopping bags, etc.), posters, and organized activities. This peer to peer approach was effective in abstracting useful and new information from the target population. The anti-smoking messages and strategies developed by the intended audience themselves added newness to the inventory of anti tobacco use campaign. The peer to peer strategy proved to bridge the gap in communication between the Thai youth and public health professionals.