Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Red Rocks Quit Coaches Support Student Cessation

Part of our ongoing work to reach young adults includes a partnership at Red Rocks Community College (RRCC), where students have reported a noticeable tobacco presence on campus. We are excited to feature the Peer Quit Coach Program, which currently includes four trained peer coaches who are supporting 14 RRCC students in breaking free from tobacco dependence.

The Peer Quit Program is an innovative peer support resource through which students who want to quit can partner with peer coaches who support them through the cessation process. After a thorough training process around health behavior change and cessation, four students were interviewed and selected to specialize in coaching tobacco cessation. All of the coaches in the program are former smokers who are incredibly passionate about inspiring and supporting others in quitting tobacco. They attended our county-wide coalition meetings, introduced themselves and shared about their inspiring stories as well as the work they have been doing at Red Rocks.

RRCC Peer Quit Coaches 2013.

In addition to the peer coaching program, a comprehensive media campaign has also been launched on the Red Rocks campus including posters, social media, a page on the RRCC website about tobacco cessation and campus newsletter articles. Student groups on campus are also being encouraged to support better enforcement of a smoke-free campus policy by creating photo-voice projects addressing tobacco litter. On Earth Day, students collected 2,500 cigarette butts that would have otherwise continued to litter the campus. In addition to a support group, a Tobacco-Free Campus Exploratory Committee was created consisting of several students and faculty members who have begun meeting to strategize around how to continue reducing the presence of tobacco on campus.

Red Rocks student holding bag of cigarette litter after butt pick-up.

The Tobacco Prevention Initiative would like to thank and congratulate the RRCC Peer Quit Coach Program on their wonderful accomplishments in reducing the presence and impact of tobacco on the RRCC campus.

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