Health Program and Evaluation: Smoking among the Elderly Populations

Health Program and Evaluation
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Health Program and Evaluation
Smoking among the Elderly Populations
Tobacco use is a major issue among many adults around the world. Its persistent use can lead to dependence, which can result in serious health issues. Early quitting of smoking significantly reduces the risk of developing smoking-related illnesses (“Smoking: Effects, Risks, Addiction, Quitting, Treatment” 2020). The intervention method often requires repeated treatments. However, there also exists certain helpful interventions that the society can use to help the affected members quit. Quitting smoking is an achievable process for many people with relevant information and proper support groups. Over half of the youth tobacco users have reported to be seriously thinking about quitting.
The Not-On-Tobacco (N-O-T) is a voluntary program by the American Lung Association designed to help youths aged between 14 and 19 years quit smoking. The 10-week program teaches participants to identify reasons to quit smoking and adopt healthy alternatives to the behavior (National Cancer Institute, 2020). The program is important because close to 95 percent of the smokers are initiated into the practice before the age of 21. Based on the announcement by the Federal Drug Administration about the increasing levels of teen vaping, the fight against tobacco use has become even more crucial.
Research Methods
Interviews
The technique will help answer the questions directed to the program promoters. The method is preferred for various reasons. One of the reasons is that interviews are the best approach for helping explain, understand, explore the opinions, behaviors and experiences of the participants about the subject (“Research methods guide: Interview research,” 2018). The interview questions will be open-ended, which will allow the program promoters to explain their perceptions about the interventions and what makes the program effective or ineffective. The interviews will be done either through face to face approach or via Skype. The objective of conducting them in such a manner is to be able to obtain the verbal cues about the topic. Besides, it will also help obtain non-verbal cues including the body language that can show any form of discomfort. The nonverbal cues will help determine the knowledge level of the participant about the program and whether they are putting in sufficient efforts to ensure that they reach as many people as possible.
The interview will also allow the researcher to have control over the process and ensure that the interviewee is focused to the end. The approach is better than the use of online and mobile surveys because in the later techniques, the researcher will have to wait for the time that is most convenient to the respondent and w...