Robust digital resource marks new era of empowerment for caring adults to navigate the topic of youth vaping

TORONTO, May 31, 2024 /CNW/ – In alignment with World No Tobacco Day, the Lung Health Foundation has partnered with Ontario’s Public Health Units to introduce the Brief Conversations Toolkit, a robust bilingual online resource that aims to shrink the unprecedented youth vaping crisis in Canada by increasing brief contact intervention (BCI) knowledge and application among those who work with or care for the nation’s youth.

For parents, guardians, teachers, coaches, mentors, youth workers, counsellors, community leaders and the many others invested in the health and well-being of Canada’s under-30 population, the Brief Conversations Toolkit serves to empower caring adults by demonstrating the evidence based BCI behavioural change concept through simple lessons with video and downloadable resources.

An invaluable roadmap that is practical, supportive and free for all, the content of the Brief Conversations Toolkit was developed by public health experts at Ontario Public Health Units and is hosted by Quash, the judgement-free youth vaping and smoking quit program powered by Lung Health Foundation. The Toolkit adds a new element to the Quash website, offering adult allies quick and easy instructions for constructive talks about vaping and smoking. “The partnership between the group melded seamlessly and Lung Health Foundation considers the collaboration invaluable and essential,” says Erin Dufour, Implementation Manager for Quash at LHF. Operating since World No Tobacco Day 2021, Quash was introduced earlier this month in more than 100 Ontario high schools in partnership with the Ministry of Education.

About the Toolkit

The Brief Conversations Toolkit came to life through a partnership between Ontario’s public health units and the Lung Health Foundation and was made possible through funding from the Ontario Ministry of Education.The Brief Conversations Toolkit content development was driven by Ontario’s Youth Nicotine Dependence Advisory Committee (YNDAC) and adapted for digital use by the Lung Health Foundation.The Brief Conversations Toolkit is hosted on quashapp.com, the home of the Lung Health Foundation’s youth smoking and vaping quit program, Quash.In English, the Brief Conversations Toolkit is found at quashapp.com/conversations.In French, The Brief Conversations Toolkit is found at quashapp.com/fr/conversations.For conversations on vaping, click on https://youtu.be/cce8bvRNrqQ

Lung Health Foundation CEO Jessica Buckley says: “Life is busy, but you can make a life-changing impact in less than three minutes. Brushing up on your short conversation skills is an effective way to engage with youth using a sensitive and non-judgmental approach that both motivates and supports them.”

According to Buckley, the urgency of the youth vaping crisis and the potential impact of the Brief Conversations Toolkit have never been greater. “Daily vaping rates are still too high, and we need to see them come down.”

Jeff Moco, Health Educator/Youth Engagement Coordinator of Chatham-Kent Public Health, and co-chair of the working group says, “We are proud to have supported the development of this toolkit with our public health unit colleagues from across Ontario and its launch this World No Tobacco Day. As public health staff, we want to encourage all youth allies to engage in meaningful conversations with youth about vaping. Together, this will help us to support youth behaviour change and increased access to programs and supports across our communities.”

For anyone who engages with youth, the Brief Conversations Toolkit recommends starting with these two steps:

ASK: If you know or suspect a young person is vaping, approach the topic gently with open-ended questions so that you can learn more about their thoughts on vaping and whether they are interested in quitting or making a change.

and then

ACT: If the young person seems open to change, now is a good time to provide them with some information that will help them start a quit journey. If a young person indicates they are not interested in changing, your goal as a supportive adult is to help them come to realize that their vaping is causing more harm than good. You can continue to ask questions to build rapport, learn their perspective and raise awareness of risks, challenges, and alternatives.

About the issue of youth vaping

Youth vaping is NOT harm reduction. Per the Canadian Tobacco and Nicotine Survey (CTNS, 2022), only 6% of youth who vape report doing it in an effort to quit smoking, and the act of vaping actually makes a young person 3.6 times more likely to smoke in the future (source).Some youth have heightened risk factors for vaping behaviour. LGBTQ+ youth are 1.5 times more likely to vape compared to heterosexual or cisgender youth. In addition, Indigenous youth are 1.5 times more likely to vape compared to non-Indigenous Youth. (CTNS, 2022)Youth experiencing poor mental health are 1.8 times more likely to vape, and 31% of all youth who vape report doing it as a form of stress reduction (CTNS, 2022). However, vaping can actually increase anxiety and depressive symptoms (source).

About the Lung Health Foundation:

The Lung Health Foundation (LHF) is a non-profit organization dedicated to ending gaps in the prevention, diagnosis, and care of lung disease in Canada. It invests in the future by driving groundbreaking research and gives individuals with living experience, and their families, the essential programs and support they need today. Building on the legacy of the Ontario Lung Association (OLA), which for over a century served as the recognized leader, voice, and primary resource in lung health, LHF has expanded its efforts nationally. To learn more, visit lunghealth.ca or for further assistance email info@lunghealth.ca. Visit LHF on Instagram @lunghealthfoundation, Facebook at lunghealthfoundation, and on X at @LungHealthFdn.

About the Quash program:

Developed with funding from Health Canada and designed with the help of passionate youth and experts in the field, Quash is the Lung Health Foundation’s free vaping and smoking cessation program. It combines a judgement-free mobile quit app with comprehensive facilitator training and a resource-rich website (quashapp.com).

About the Youth Nicotine Dependence Advisory Committee:

The YNDAC is a partnership of Public Health Units and other organizations, groups, and agencies with a focus on youth commercial tobacco, vaping and nicotine product use prevention, cessation and enforcement in Ontario. The committee works to provide a forum for provincial partners to collaborate to develop, implement and evaluate a comprehensive, coordinated, evidence-informed approach to reduce rates of nicotine addiction among Ontario youths by:

Maintaining the Youth Smoking and Vaping Situational Assessment, through the ongoing review and collection of evidence related to adult tobacco and/or vaping use prevention, cessation and/or enforcement.Identifying opportunities for collaborative action that will reduce duplication, increase effectiveness, and contribute to the achievement of the project goals and objectives.The development and implementation of collaborative programming, using Public Health Ontario’s (2018) Planning Health Promotion Programs process.

SOURCE Lung Health Foundation