Community based participatory research to investigate smoking among Filipina girls in Hawaii

Background: Although smoking prevalence for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) as an aggregated group is lower compared to non-AAPIs, disparities exist within the AAPI ethnic groups. Tobacco use prevalence is high and rising Filipino girls. In Hawai`i where AAPIs comprise 70% of the population, the rate of current smokers is 13.7% for Filipina high school girls, but 7.2% for Japanese girls. Such variations indicate that youth prevention programs are not reaching segments of the diverse AAPI communities.

Aims: This project aims to investigate attitudes, perceptions, and sociocultural factors related to the high smoking rates of Filipina girls in Hawai`i. Community based participatory research will identify innovative youth anti-smoking interventions tailored to Filipina girls.

Methods: Filipino, youth advocacy, and tobacco prevention community organizations were engaged to guide and ensure that research procedures are appropriate and respectful. Reliability and validity of the qualitative procedures are facilitated through specific procedures. Peer facilitators will lead 12-15 focus groups of 6-10 Filipina girls to discuss smoking and strategies to prevent smoking. Peer facilitators may increase response validity as girls may be more revealing speaking with a peer. Response themes will be identified separately by two researchers, and results will be reviewed with project collaborators to corroborate and interpret findings.

Implications: Strategies for engaging Filipina girls in research and program development will be shared. Since groups to benefit from the future tailored smoking prevention interventions are integrally involved in the research, they may more readily adopt, translate, and disseminate programs throughout the Filipino American community.