Abstract
Problem Significance: E-cigarette use is at epidemic levels among adolescents within the United States and is threatening to reverse years of public health efforts that led to a decline in nicotine use. Tobacco environments allow e-cigarettes to be readily available and usage to be normalized. Winters, California has a tobacco environment that is contributing to tobacco usage among adolescents.
Analysis and Objectives: This capstone project aims to address nicotine addiction among adolescents. An intensive review of literature and primary data help to explain the complexity of how a tobacco environment contributes to usage. The program objective is to increase advocacy skills in adolescents 14-18 years old living in Winters, California related to changing the tobacco environment.
Intervention (Solution) Proposal: The proposed intervention includes a three-week workshop series that aims to educate and increase knowledge around the health impact that tobacco products have on the body, and to both engage and empower adolescents to advocate for local policy change.
Recommendations and Conclusions: Tobacco usage among adolescents should be prioritized as a public health issue because it does not discriminate. To keep another generation from being addicted to nicotine, it is essential that strategies reduce tobacco usage among adolescents occur at the environmental and policy level.