Abstract A44: Tobacco education sessions as a recruitment tool for a culturally tailored smoking cessation program for American Indians: All Nations Breath of Life

American Indians have the highest smoking rates and lowest quit rates of any racial/ethnic group in the US. Researchers and community members from the American Indian Health Research and Education Alliance (AIHREA) created and tested a culturally-tailored smoking cessation program, All Nations Breath of Life (ANBL). ANBL is designed to help American Indians quit smoking while respecting the sacred nature of tobacco. To increase enrollment in ANBL, American Indian smokers were approached at cultural events and asked to attend a 30-minute educational session (in-person, n = 179; televideo, n = 97). The educational sessions were developed using the Health Belief Model as a framework and focused on smoking facts and American Indian health. In pre- and post-tests, participants in both sessions demonstrated increased motivation and confidence to quit smoking. Approximately 9% of in-person session participants and 30% of televideo participants were recruited into ANBL. The results indicate that education sessions are an excellent way to educate American Indians about smoking, its related outcomes, and American Indian health. More importantly, these sessions were a successful recruitment tool for ANBL. In conclusion, hosting informational sessions at cultural events about smoking are an effective way to recruit people into a smoking cessation program. Citation Format: Ryan Goeckner, Jordyn Gunville, T Edward Smith, Niaman Nazir, Sean M. Daley, Won Choi, Christine Daley. Tobacco education sessions as a recruitment tool for a culturally tailored smoking cessation program for American Indians: All Nations Breath of Life. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Ninth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2016 Sep 25-28; Fort Lauderdale, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2017;26(2 Suppl):Abstract nr A44.