How much of my time will it take to participate in the “Friends Helping Friends” study?
If you choose to be a peer counselor you need to attend two 2-hour trainings after school or on the weekend and then counsel 2-4 of your friends that are current smokers. The counseling sessions will take anywhere from 5-20 minutes. The counseling sessions can be conducted at school (before school, between classes in the hallway, during lunch, or after school) or another location that is comfortable for both the peer counselor and the current smoker. Each peer counselor will have to give their smoking friend two separate smoking cessation messages. Peer counselors will complete 3 surveys about their experiences as peer counselors. If you are a smoker you will have to complete a baseline survey and Cotinine test at the beginning of the study. One month after the baseline survey you will need to complete a follow-up survey and take a Cotinine test if your smoking status has changed (you quit smoking). Then six months after the baseline survey you need to complete a six-month follow-up su
