Solving The Puzzle: Working​​ with Youth and Families

Learn how to successfully interact with youth and families affected by tobacco use. Find handouts and other informational items that you can offer as a resource. The informat​​ion presented here covers many audiences: smokers, non-smokers, people who live with a smoker, concerned parents, youth, expectant mothers, Spanish language speakers and those who use alternative forms of tobacco. 

For more resources, see Parents & Families. 

For state-specific resources, see State-Specific Information. 

Youth and Fami​ly ​​​​Education 

Find resources to assist in educating youth and families about tobacco use and secondhand smoke. 

• AAP Richmond Center: Tobacco Control and Specific Populations 
  This page offers information specific to people of specific demographic groups, including people of different backgrounds, ethnicities, and ages. 
• How to Quit 
  Included on this page is information on how tobacco impacts the user and those around them, as well as quit resources. There is also information on helping someone else quit using tobacco products. 
• AAP Richmond Center: For Kids and Teens 
  This page contains information for youth about the basic facts about tobacco products, how to steer clear of using tobacco products, and how to quit using those products. 
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youth Tobacco-Free Sports Initiative 
  This campaign encourages youth to focus on healthy, active living and to make healthy, smoke-free choices. Campaign materials include celebrity posters featuring action movie star Jackie Chan and skateboard star Tony Hawk, and advocate healthy, tobacco-free lifestyles. 
• Secondhand Smoke and the Health of Your Family Brochure (Bilingual) 
  This brochure can be printed double sided to contain English text on one side and Spanish text on the other side. The brochure explains the basics about the dangers of secondhand smoke to families, especially to children. 
• US EPA’s Smoke Free Homes Program 
  This Web site offers information on the pediatric health effects of secondhand smoke, and assists families in creating a smoke-free home and car. 

Youth and F​amily Handouts 

This section includes handouts you can offer to youth and families to help educate them on the harms of tobacco and secondhand smoke. All handouts in PDF format. 

• AAP: Secondhand Smoke 
• AAP: Thirdhand Smoke 
• AAP: I Quit Bro​chure for Youth​ 
• AAP: Smoke-free Homes and Cars — Information for Non-Smokers 
• AAP: Smoke-free Homes and Cars — Information for Smokers 
• AAP: Teens and Tobacco 
• USF AHEC: Hookah 
• California Environmental Protection Agency: Secondhand Smoke- English 
• California Environmental Protection Agency: Secondhand Smoke- Spanish 

For more resources to hand out to your patients to educate them on becoming smoke-free, please see Solving The Puzzle — Cessation. 

Communicating with Youth and Families 

Smoking cessation can be one of the hardest things a person will ever try to do. Studies have shown that most smokers want to quit, but need a little help. You can be the difference between failure and success in a person’s quit attempt. 

• Role-playing exercises 
  Role playing exercises can be done in pairs: one player takes the role of the clinician and the other takes the role of the patient or parent. Once the exercise is completed (in about 5 minutes), roles are reversed for the next exercise. It is important to “say the words” in order to gain the most benefit from the exercises. The exercises help to develop counseling skills and supportive language. The two documents below cover different areas- one focuses on counseling patients, the other focuses on counseling parents and families. 
• Counseling Patients 
• Counseling Parents and Families 
• 5 As Guide to Cessation 
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