Increasing Adult Awareness of Hawai’i Youth Vaping

Abstract

Vaping is a novel socially acceptable form of nicotine consumption used by youth as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. Electronic cigarette (e-cig) use in Hawaii County (HC) middle and high school students is higher than state and national rates. Due to the novel onset of youth e-cig use, long-term health implications are unknown. However, numerous federal, national and other evidence-based studies acknowledge the concerns of nicotine exposure to the developing brain, and e-cigs being a socially acceptable gateway to traditional cigarette and other drug use. Numerous studies indicate high youth e-cig rates amongst specific populations (i.e., rural, low socioeconomic status), the strong influence parents and adults have on youth tobacco abuse, and that current youth e-cig preventative strategies are unsuccessful. The rural Puna District has the highest users of both e-cigs and combustible cigarettes in the state of Hawaii. Thus, innovative strategies are needed to improve e-cig health literacy in this high risk population. Thirty participants participated in a project aimed at improving e-cig health literacy in the rural population through a community farmer’s market e-cig information booth. Participants’ level of concern, e-cig knowledge, and the resources utilized to obtain e-cig or other health information were assessed before and after project interventions. Data analysis indicated that for the majority of participants, project interventions changed perception, increased level of concern, knowledge, potential future advocacy against e-cigs, and potential future attendance to convenient health literacy booths. Convenient educational booths have the potential to improve health literacy in rural populations thus leading to improved prevention or management of community health issues.