Reducing Tobacco Use Among Youth: A Guideline for Prevention Practitioners

The Prevention Enhancement Protocols System, or PEPS, was created by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) to systematically identify current knowledge on prevention programs and to develop recommendations to guide and strengthen the prevention efforts of the States and communities. Tobacco use among youth was chosen as the topic for the first PEPS document.

A great deal has been written about prevention research studies, practice cases, and initiatives aimed at reducing tobacco use among youth. To date, however, this valuable information has been largely inaccessible to practitioners and communities in a systematic and usable form. Under the PEPS program, panels of prevention experts have for the first time organized information on effective prevention programs into a set of guidelines and recommendations that are written for practitioners and are based on a systematic assessment of program effectiveness. This practitioner's guide summarizes the findings and recommendations, which are presented in full in the comprehensive guideline, entitled Reducing Tobacco Use Among Youth: Community-Based Approaches.

The practitioner's guide is a unique planning tool. Using the practitioner's guide, you can:

• Become familiar with a broad range of community-based prevention strategies and approaches.

• Strengthen the effectiveness of your prevention programs by using the "General Recommendations" to guide your program planning and implementation.

• Benefit from the evidence-based "Lessons Learned," which are based on a review and analysis of prevention research and practice evidence categorized into six different prevention approaches.

• Benefit from the "Recommendations for Practice," which are based on the expertise of the PEPS expert panel and the research and practice evidence.

  
  

  Acknowledgments
  
  Table of Contents