A self-help smoking cessation program for inner-city African Americans: results from the Harlem Health Connection Project

Abstract

The authors develop and test a culturally sensitive, low-intensity smoking cessation intervention for low-socioeconomic African Americans. African American adult smokers were randomly assigned to receive either a multicomponent smoking cessation intervention comprising a printed guide, a video, and a telephone booster call or health education materials not directly addressing tobacco use. The results of the study were mixed. Although no significant effects were observed for the entire treatment cohort, the results of post hoc analyses suggest that culturally sensitive self-help smoking cessation materials plus a single phone contact can produce short-term cessation rates similar to those reported for majority populations. This conclusion should be tempered by the low completion rate for the booster call and several design limitations of the study.