UNO television helps with smoking cessation study

Brad Craig, left, and Meghan Atwell, and two of their fellow high school students role-play in The Nebraska Medical Center’s Nebraska Cafe as they are filmed by UNO student Travis Wagner.

With the help of a University of Nebraska at Omaha television crew, the UNMC Department of Family Medicine will be able to spread the word to area high school students about a smoking cessation model that may help them quit smoking.

Kristine McVea, M.D., associate professor, UNMC Department of Family Medicine and principal investigator of the grant, has launched a $2.2 million study to determine if a unique smoking cessation model will help high school students quit smoking.

The objective of the four-year grant is to determine the effectiveness of peer counseling to assist high school students to quit or reduce smoking, become more ready to quit and have more favorable attitudes about quitting.

University of Nebraska at Omaha television crew member, Mark Dail, tapes Kelsey Puffer, left, and Meghan Atwell in UNMC’s Wittson Hall.

Part of the study also will assess the effectiveness of the peer counselor training program and examine the role of peer counselors. About 900 smokers in 24 Omaha, Lincoln and Council Bluffs high schools will be recruited for the study and be assigned randomly to an intervention group or control group. The video will air on closed circuit televisions in area high school. It’s estimated about 22 percent of high school students in the schools are regular smokers.