Helping Young Smokers Quit: Identifying Best Practices for Tobacco Cessation (HYSQ)

Helping Young Smokers Quit (HYSQ) is a two-phase project designed to address the important need to disseminate effective, developmentally appropriate cessation programs for adolescent smokers. While a growing number of teen cessation programs are available, little is known about: how many programs exist, where they are located, what services they offer, what populations they serve, or how they provide treatment. Moreover, only a handful of such programs have been evaluated. The HYSQ initiative has two primary aims:

1. To identify and describe tobacco treatment programs available to youth across the United States
2. To evaluate smoking cessation programs that are tailored for youth to help understand what works.

In Phase I, a national survey of existing adolescent cessation programs was conducted to identify and characterize major program offerings, and the resources and constraints of the “real world” settings in which these services are offered. In Phase II, longitudinal program evaluations are being conducted of practices now being used across the US. The overarching question is “what program component, process, and contextual factors are associated with increased recruitment, retention and quit rates?” The HYSQ initiative fills a gap in knowledge about the numbers and distribution of youth cessation programs, as well as the types of treatment approaches and program components that are currently offered across the US. It will identify effective program models and promising directions for future research. Findings from HYSQ will assist practitioners, researchers, and funding organizations plan future youth smoking cessation programs and activities.