[Yes, I'm quitting: a scripto-visual tool on anti-smoking for functionally illiterate women. Problems and educational...

In Montreal a team of social workers has developed a scripto-visual method for breaking tobacco dependency. It is intended for functionally illiterate women between 18 and 35 years old with less than nine years of schooling. Before testing it on the target population, the team completed a developmental experiment with the goal of evaluating and measuring the efficacity of this method. The article presents the various components of the manual and summarizes the findings. The preparation of the manual naturally took into consideration the diverse factors affecting the decision to begin smoking as well as the arguments advanced for breaking the habit. These included: stressing the personal advantages (increased self-esteem and self-confidence); taking the guilt out of this behaviour by revealing its impact and the link between social and advertising incentives to smoke; offering women a means of verbalizing their situation; dedramatizing relapses to maintain self-respect; presenting specific devices to facilitate this step. Comic strips are the principal support mechanism. These present information on the causes and consequences of tobacco dependency and illustrate its effects. They also introduce practical ways to assist the target population in breaking the habit and provides examples of activities which boost motivation and will power. In order to analyse the manual, sessions were organized with potential users. They were invited to complete a short questionnaire, to participate in mock exercises and to comment on the visuals. Beyond the message conveyed, the intention was to measure interest and assimilation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)