Clinical Research Directory

Educational Models for Tobacco Exposure Awareness

This is a randomized controlled trial comparing the effects of peer education and traditional education on increasing knowledge and awareness of secondhand and thirdhand tobacco smoke exposure among geriatric care program students. Tobacco use and passive smoking are serious public health problems that cause millions of deaths each year and are highly prevalent among university students. Not only smoke dispersed in the air (secondhand smoke), but also toxic residues that accumulate on surfaces and can be absorbed through the skin and ingestion (thirdhand smoke) carry carcinogenic risks. It is a professional obligation for these students, who are the health professionals of the future, to protect the vulnerable elderly population they will serve from this exposure (especially residues carried on clothing/hair). It is also aimed to protect their own health against the risk of smoking triggered by occupational stress. Traditional education that only imparts information may be insufficient in changing behavior. Peer education based on Social Learning Theory offers a sincere and effective alternative that encounters less resistance among young people. While existing experimental studies in the literature generally focus on "active smoking and motivation to quit," this study fills an important gap by focusing on passive and third-hand exposure. If successful, this peer education model could be implemented as a standardized educational module at the national level in university campuses. Research hypotheses: H1: Students who receive peer education have higher levels of knowledge about secondhand smoke than students who receive traditional education. H2: Students who receive peer education have higher levels of awareness about thirdhand smoke than students who receive traditional education. H3: There is a difference between the pre- and post-intervention and between the experimental and control groups in terms of students' average scores for their awareness level of secondhand smoke. H4: There is a difference between the pre- and post-intervention and between the experimental and control groups in terms of students' average scores for their knowledge level of thirdhand smoke.