Richmond Community
After a very well attended and positively received "Take 2 Minutes To Quit" event in fall of 2010, CS2day and partner Bon Secours Healthcare System returned to Corporate Midway at Richmond International Raceway in Richmond, Virginia during the April 2011 NASCAR races to bring the importance of smoking cessation to the community once again in a non-threatening, non-judgmental and non-traditional setting.
The unique aspects of the recreational race track location, which has been historically targeted by tobacco companies for smoking and non-tobacco products, provided a densely populated and relaxed environment for volunteers to enhance their motivational interviewing skills on an audience who may or may not have been part of their traditional patient population.
Because 60% of race attendees came from the Richmond area, the community service project promoted two goals.
- To improve healthcare practitioner motivational interviewing skills
- To create opportunities for area race attendees to talk about smoking cessation as well as think about the impact it would have on their, their family's and their community's health
Positioned in a 30' x 30' exhibit booth complete with CS2day and Bon Secours branding, a plasma TV playing a CS2day video and computer stations where fans could take a short survey, the volunteer staff from Bon Secours talked to approximately 500 race fans per day over the course of the two-day event. The high profile, yet intimate, environment allowed the volunteers to celebrate with people who had already quit, to encourage smokers who hadn't yet quit, to counsel current smokers and to distribute materials to encourage smokers to quit including Quitline information.
Throughout the event, the volunteers were appreciative, inspired, energized and motivated themselves from
the opportunity to practice their Motivational Interviewing skills while helping others improve their quality of life in the process.
The event was not only a terrific experience for the race fans that stopped to interact with volunteers, but for the volunteers as well.
By participating they:
- Could focus entirely on tobacco rather than sharing billing with other health issues
- Found their confidence soared over the course of one shift
- Learned that every person has a tobacco story to tell - current tobacco usage, a quit story, concern about a loved one currently using, etc.
- Provided practical advice of how a non-smoker could support a loved one who has yet to quit
- Discovered the great diversity of tobacco stories as well as their common themes
- Treated current tobacco users in an accepting, tolerant manner reflective of what they were taught as part of the motivational interviewing approach
The faculty also gained valuable experience during the event and noted two strategies that engaged race fans that were not used in the first NASCAR event.
- Asking the open ended question - "What's your tobacco story?"
- Building on the interest to enter to win the grill to invite the race fan to stop then use the survey questions as a stimulus to engage the person to tell their story with practical advice growing out of their own experience
Both the fall 2010 and spring 2011 events resulted in positive outcomes and were successful in meeting their event goals. In order to ensure the same result for future events, CS2day will evaluate and address the following take aways.
- Prepare to respond strategically no matter what the tobacco story
- Motivate the tobacco user who is reluctant to quit
- Provide specific guidance to those ready to quit
- Congratulate the ex-tobacco user and anticipate potential risk for relapse
- Help nonusers provide support and guidance to loved ones who use tobacco
Review the event photos to see our partners, faculty, volunteers and interested race fans in action.
click images to enlarge
