Development of a culturally targeted smoking cessation intervention for African American smokers

In this paper we describe the development a culturally targeted (CT) smoking cessation intervention for low-to-middle income African-American smokers. Based on theoretically based guidelines, modifications were made to a standard treatment manual for group-based smoking cessation counseling that incorporates cognitive-behavioral, motivational, and twelve step skills. Approximately 41% of the standard treatment materials were modified, and four new modules were developed. A pilot study was conducted to compare acceptability, feasibility and early outcome indicates in African American smokers randomized to the CT intervention compared with existing data from African American smokers treated using a non-targeted standard approach (ST). Outcomes from the CT pilot study were promising: results showed high levels of feasibility, acceptability and better adherence to nicotine replacement therapy, higher quit rates, and better retention and follow-up compared with the ST. Findings suggest that a culturally targeted and intensive group based smoking cessation treatment is plausibly effective in improving smoking cessation outcomes in African American smokers, warranting a larger randomized trial.