Exploring the perceived effectiveness and cultural acceptability of COVID-19 relevant social media intervention content among Alaska Native people who Smoke: The CAN Quit study

Christi A Patten; Kathryn R Koller; Pamela S Sinicrope; Zoe T Merculieff; Judith J Prochaska; Christine A Hughes; Clara R McConnell; Paul A Decker; Kenneth Resnicow; Timothy K Thomas

doi:10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.102042

Exploring the perceived effectiveness and cultural acceptability of COVID-19 relevant social media intervention content among Alaska Native people who Smoke: The CAN Quit study

Prev Med Rep. 2022 Dec:30:102042. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.102042. Epub 2022 Nov 7.

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry and Psychology and Behavioral Health Research Program, Mayo Clinic, 200 1 St SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
² Research Services, Division of Community Health Services, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 4000 Ambassador Dr, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
³ Stanford Prevention Research Center, Department of Medicine, Stanford University, 1265 Welch Road, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
⁴ Wellness and Prevention, Division of Community Health Services, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, 4000 Ambassador Dr, Anchorage, AK 99508, USA.
⁵ Division of Clinical Trials and Biostatistics, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, Mayo Clinic, 200 1 St SW, Rochester, MN 55905, USA.
⁶ School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 109 S. Observatory, 3867 SPH1, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Abstract

Social media platforms have potential for reach and effectiveness to motivate smoking cessation and use of evidence-based cessation treatment, even during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic. This study builds on our prior community participatory approach to developing content postings for the CAN Quit Facebook intervention among Alaska Native (AN) people who smoke. With input from a community advisory committee, we selected new content on COVID-19 preventive practices (e.g., masking) and evaluated them using a validated, six-item perceived effectiveness scale and a single item assessing cultural relevance. We obtained feedback on six content postings (two videos and four text/pictures) from an online survey administered to 41 AN people (14 men, 27 women; age range 22-61 years) who smoke in Alaska statewide with 49 % residing in rural Alaska. Perceived effectiveness scale scores were high across postings, ranging from 3.9 to 4.4 out of a maximum score of 5.0. Cultural relevance item scores ranged from 3.9 to 4.3. We found no appreciable differences by sex, age, or rural/urban location for either score. This study adds new information on the adaptation, acceptability, and perceived effectiveness of content on COVID-19 preventive practices for future inclusion in a social media-based intervention for smoking cessation specifically tailored for AN people.

Keywords: Alaska Native people; COVID-19; Intervention; Perceived effectiveness; Smoking; Social media.