1. Catching the Essentials:
CATCH MY BREATH
Megan Grayless
Regional Coordinator Conference

2. CATCH My Breath: Phase 1 Nov-March 2016
Conducted literature review and developed program
Feedback from 15 middle school teachers and tobacco educators
Revise:
Cut lesson length
Streamline instructions
Add PowerPoint classroom slides
Entire program accessible on-line

3. CATCH My Breath: Phase 2 Pilot Study (May 2016)
Feasibility Pilot Study: May
Data Analysis: June & July
Teacher Feedback Survey
Student Pre-Post Survey
Made revisions based on teacher feedback: July-August
Streamline instructions and lesson plans
Age up for 8th grade
Strengthen home messaging
Media launch in August

4. Goal & Outcomes
GOAL: To prevent the initiation of E-Cigarette use among pre-teen and teen adolescents.
The intended outcomes are to ensure that students will:
Resist their own curiosity and peer pressure to experiment with E-Cigarettes.
Understand that E-Cigarettes are addictive, unhealthy and not as popular as they think.
Influence friends and peers not to use E-Cigarettes.

5. Background
CATCH My Breath is best practice based and designed for students in grades 6 through 8.
Based on Social Cognitive Theory.
Curriculum focuses on:
Disrupting the norm held by youth that everybody (or many people) smokes E-Cigarettes,
Developing skills to resist peer pressure to use E-Cigarettes,
Understanding how advertising is designed to undermine credible health information and to create favorable attitudes and beliefs about E-Cigarettes.

6. Curriculum Organization
Divided into 6 sessions lasting about 30 minutes each.
Variety of educational strategies used, including: cooperative learning groups, group discussions, goal setting, interviews, and analyzing mass media.
Designed to be taught by teachers, tobacco educators, counselors or nurses.
Includes active student-centered learning led by peer group facilitators.
The curriculum can be taught in various subjects to include: science, health, physical education and advisory/homeroom.

7. Curriculum Organization
Sessions include everything you need to teach a lesson. They are:
User friendly & flexible
Includes PPTs (with notes) to guide your implementation of each lesson
Aligned with National Academic Standards and Texas Essential Knowledge & Skills

8. Teacher 211 Additional resources provided after every session.
Video-based education links included for teachers, colleagues & friends.
Link provided for Glossary of Terms related to E-Cigarettes due to expanding industry.
Please feel free to contact the developers of CATCH My Breath by visiting the CATCH Global Foundation website ( – Let us know about your experiences with the program!

9. Why Use Peer Facilitators
Peers nominated by their classmates are credible role models. The information they deliver is more likely to be believed and internalized.
Peers create new anti-smoking norms; norms that will persist outside the classroom.
Peer delivered information is less intimidating because peers use local language, behaviors, and culture.
Peer facilitators gain experience as a positive role model.
Peer-facilitated programs are easier for teachers to implement, plus students say they like peer-facilitated programs better.
There are several reasons why peer-assisted programs have a strong influence on the attitudes and behaviors of group members, and are more effective than teacher alone programs.

10. Scope & Sequence SESSION 0 SESSION 1 SESSION 2
- Elect 4-5 peer group facilitators from each class.
- One week before the first session, train the peer group facilitators.
SESSION 1
Describe the health hazards associated with E-cigarette use.
Identify negative consequences of E-cigarette use.
SESSION 2
Review the harmful consequences of E-cigarette use.
Identify reasons why kids their age begin using E-cigarettes.
Identify positive alternatives to using E-cigarettes.
Identify the percentage of E-cigarette users in high school and middle school and describe non-smokers as the norm.

11. Scope & Sequence (continued)
SESSION 3
Describe what parents or adults think about E-cigarettes.
Identify the amount of money the tobacco and E-cigarette industry spends on advertising its products.
Identify the covert methods that the tobacco and E-Cigarette industry uses to attract new users.
Develop an advertising idea that promotes the benefits of being E-Cigarette free.
SESSION 4
Review covert methods that the E-Cigarette industry uses to attract new users.
Identify situations and places that may be high-risk for being offered an E-cigarette.
Continue working on the development of an advertising idea that promotes the benefits of being E-cigarette-free.

12. Scope & Sequence (continued)
SESSION 5
Analyze a situation in which they or their peers are pressured to use E-cigarettes.
Identify ways in which they can deal with peer pressure without using E-cigarettes.
Develop nonviolent strategies they can use to refuse E-cigarettes
Demonstrate their new E-cigarette refusal skills and strategies.
SESSION 6
Review non-violent strategies they can use to refuse E-cigarettes.
Review effective ways to resist peer pressure to use E-cigarettes.
Present an advertising idea that promotes the benefits of being E-cigarette-free.
State in front of their classmates their decision not to use E-cigarettes.

13. Evaluation Tools Student Pre-Post Survey: Teacher Survey:
Includes questions about students’ knowledge, attitudes and possible experience with E-Cigarettes.
Teacher Survey:
Aim is to assess teachers’ opinion of the CATCH My Breath Program including its proposed applicability, compatibility, and effectiveness.
To be filled out after implementing the CATCH My Breath sessions and should take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

14. Pilot Data Findings

15. Pilot Study
26 schools taught CATCH My Breath in at least 1 classroom during May 2016
Reached approximately 2, th grade students
15 schools (across 5 states – IL, TX, AR, TN & OK) administered pre-post student surveys
Most of these schools finished the lessons in weeks
28 teachers completed feedback surveys

16. Teacher Feedback
91% agreed that the lessons are culturally appropriate.
91% felt confident in their ability to teach the CATCH My Breath lessons.
86% agreed that the additional teacher resources provided sufficient background information to teach the lessons.
73% agreed that the peer leadership component of the curriculum was successful.
68% agreed that their students liked the CATCH My Breath lessons.

17. Student Sample Time 1 Time 2 Sample (n) 1,704 1,371 Grade 6th 7th 8th
567 (33.3%)
580 (34.0%)
557 (32.7%)
515 (37.6%)*
425 (31.0%)
431 (31.4%)
Gender
Male
Female
868 (51.3%)
825 (48.7%)
666 (48.9%)
695 (51.1%)
Race & Ethnicity
Hispanic
Non-Hispanic White
Non-Hispanic Black
Other
1,110 (65.9%)
418 (24.8%)
43 (2.6%)
113 (6.7%)
883 (64.9%)
324 (23.8%)
50 (3.7%)
104 (7.6%)
*p < 0.05

18. Student Feedback
86% agreed (59% strongly) that they are less likely to use e- cigarettes as a result of participating in the CATCH My Breath program.
82% agreed (50% strongly) that they will look at e-cigarette advertising differently from now on.
86% agreed (54% strongly) that CATCH My Breath increased what they know about e-cigarette use.
70% agreed (37% strongly) that they discussed what they learned from CATCH My Breath with friends or family.

19. CATCH My Breath: Phase 3
Identify “early adopter” schools and communities with agency funders
Program cost: $25/school per year
Prepare NIH RO1 Group randomized trial grant
Develop empirical evidence base
Applied for and received a St. David’s Foundation Opportunity Grant
Provide CATCH My Breath at no cost for the & school year to:
schools serving 6th, 7th or 8th grade in the following counties: Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis, & Williamson

20. Digital CATCH
All teacher materials and evaluation tools can be found within the CATCH My Breath Lesson Pack available at:

22. Thank you for your interest in the CATCH My Breath Youth E-Cigarette Prevention Program! Megan Grayless: CATCH My Breath Program Manager Lindsay Edgar: Community Consultant