Abstract of Proposed Research Project
Title: Mobilizing African American Parents to Address the Harms of Secondhand
Smoke: A Community-based Participatory Research Project
Objective: The main objective of the proposed project is to learn more about
secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure among lower income, inner-city, African American
parents of young children 6 weeks to 5 years of age with the ultimate goal of motivating
the parents to address harms due to SHS exposure. Toward these ends, this project
purposes to use community-based participatory research (CBPR) methodology to engage
parents as researchers in an equitable and collaborative partnership with academic
researchers. Parents and other community members will take on active roles throughout
the study, from definition of the problem, to equally contributing to research design, data
collection, evaluation, and dissemination.
Rationale: There is paucity of knowledge about parental secondhand smoke
(SHS) exposure among infants and young children within this high priority population
(i.e. African American) in Minneapolis. A child’s exposure to SHS is more prevalent
among African Americans and lower income communities. In the inner-city of
Minneapolis 32% of African Americans smoke compared to 20% in the state of
Minnesota. One in five of these households expose children under age 6 years to SHS
inside their homes in some communities. Moreover, Minneapolis has the highest
population density of children under five living in poverty at 72%. Children suffer from
the harmful effects of exposure to SHS that include delayed developmental trajectory,
chronic respiratory symptoms, asthma, and decreased lung function. Effects worsen in
relation to length of exposure with long term consequences at times; however stopping
exposure of SHS greatly reduces the risks.
Principal reasons that justify the use of CBPR methods to design, conduct, and
evaluate this project within lower income, urban, African American communities relate
to the paucity of research that exists about their perceptions, understandings, and actual
behaviors related to parental SHS exposure and how to address the harms without
disparaging or alienating parents. Additionally, the CBPR approach demystifies the
research process among African American communities who may be distrustful of
research. Following the core strategies of CBPR, community- and academic-researchers
will work together to address this health issue effecting a highly vulnerable group in our
society, infants and preschool children. CBPR will allow the development of new
approaches that are uniquely tailored and appropriate as well as actively engage as coproducers of knowledge.
Consistency with ClearWay’s Mission and Funding Priorities: The current
proposal is consistent with ClearWay’s Research priority that calls for research to
determine effective strategies for mobilizing priority populations to address the harms
caused by the exposure to tobacco use and secondhand smoke for priority populations in
Minnesota. Specifically, the proposal intends to use CBPR methodology to collaborate
with community members to investigate parental SHS exposure while seeking strategies
to organize priority population communities in reducing exposure. Lower income, innercity African Americans have a high prevalence of tobacco use and SHS exposure, scant
resources to effectively increase their awareness of the harms of parental SHS smoke, and
present challenges in fostering involvement in projects related to parental SHS exposure,
and in motivating behavior change.
Overview of Project: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) is an
action research approach that emphasizes close collaboration among researchers and
community participants who are directly affected by an issue to generate knowledge and
solve local problems. The aims of the proposed study include (1) establishing
community-academic relationships to increase the capacity of African American parents
to address harms of SHS, 2) collaborating with a Parent Advisory Board (PAB) in
describing the challenges and assets associated with lower income and inner-city African
American parents’ and other adult SHS exposure among young children, ages 6 weeks to
5, and 3) describe parental and other adult SHS exposure and identify preliminary
strategies to mobilize parents to reduce SHS among young children.
The study setting is La Crèche Early Childhood Centers, Inc. founded in 1969 as a
private nonprofit organization. La Crèche provides services to children ages six weeks
through twelve years at centers within the high poverty areas of North, South and Bryn
Mawr areas in Minneapolis. The racial breakdown across the centers is 98% African
American with 144 parents utilizing La Crèche services. Of the 175 children at La Crèche
Centers, 91% are considered poor by the Federal Income guidelines.
Although the exact design of the research project cannot be specifically outlined
at this time because it is developed through the CBPR process, a parent advisory board
(PAB) will be established to collaborate throughout the entire research process (i.e.,
refining the mission, questionnaire development, facilitating data collection/analyses,
disseminate findings, etc.), in relation to aims 1-3.
Although the PAB will help determine data collection methods, a combination of
quantitative and qualitative measures will be used to evaluate the research process and
impact of the intervention. Quantitative measures recognized by the research community
to be important include demographic data (children at home, marriage status, and
income) smoking behavior characteristics (smoking status and frequency) and social
influence data (smoking status of partner/friends, home smoking rules). Biochemical
measure includes levels of infants’ and children’s urinary cotinine. Qualitative data will
include interviews with key informants and lay leaders within the surrounding
communities, and La Crèche parents to address parental SHS exposure, attitudes, beliefs,
and behaviors related to parental and other adult SHS exposure among infants and
children ages 6 weeks to 5 years of age as well as identify preliminary mobilization
strategies in addressing the harms of SHS exposure within these communities. We also
anticipate including assessing stress-management, coping, childcare, and partner support
with home smoking rules.
Quantitative data (continuous and categorical) will be analyzed with the aid of
statistical software through descriptive statistics. Biochemical data will be analyzed in
the lab of Dr. Sharon Murphy of the Cancer Research Center at the University of
Minnesota. Qualitative data will be analyzed with the aid of qualitative data management
software through the constant comparative method to identifying larger themes.