|
NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 1, OCTOBER 2002
Hazelden Rolls Out Red Carpet
for Launch of ASCENT!
In November 2002, Hazelden Publishing will officially launch ASCENT
(Adolescent Smoking Cessation Escaping Nicotine and Tobacco)
at the 2002 National Conference on Tobacco or Health. ASCENT
is the latest in smoking cessation programs for youth. Developed
by two clinical psychologists for use in school systems, the program
is designed to provide students who smoke with the support they
need to reduce or quit their tobacco use.
"In developing this teen cessation program, our goals were to make
it developmentally appropriate, motivational, research-based, and
most importantly, fun for teens—and it seems that we have accomplished
our goals," said Jeffrey A. Hoffman, PhD. Hoffman is President and
CEO of Danya International, Inc., and one of the authors of ASCENT.
The comprehensive smoking cessation curriculum is broken into six
sessions: Making the Decision to Quit, Making the Commitment, Getting
Ready to Quit, The Last Smoke, Smoke-Free and Relapse Prevention,
and The Celebration. The activities vary from session to session.
While some involve discussions on topics such as personal reasons
to quit smoking and quitting tips, others incorporate activities
like role-playing and stress management exercises. The full program
includes a facilitator's curriculum, a facilitator's video, a teen
participant workbook, a support guide for parents, and other specialty
supplemental items. ASCENT also features the award-winning
teen motivational video, The Last Drag. The video is a
winner of the Gold International CINDY award and the ITVA-DC Peer
Awards. Danya was also recently named "Innovator of the Year" by
the Daily Record for the ASCENT program.
The ASCENT program was made possible by a Small Business
Innovation Research grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
National Institutes of Health. As part of the research, Danya is
evaluating the program's effectiveness in seven schools in Montgomery
County, Maryland. Preliminary results are forthcoming. In addition,
a process evaluation will be implemented in the near future and
will involve training teachers in two schools to conduct the program
with the support of the supplementary components, teenquit.com,
and other training materials.
|
