EXTENDED DISCUSSION: Kids & Vaping – Working in the Field

Communicating the harms of nicotine to kids has been a core strategy to prevent youth uptake of vaping.  Jennifer Pearson will guide a discussion on the challenges public health professionals face when communicating the harms of vaping to youth in the real world. From government health messaging to working with kids in schools, this session will explore how to optimize youth education and communication to reach the right kids with the right message at the right time.

Discussion topics will include:

• Personal experiences working in youth vaping prevention and treatment – what’s it like out there?
• The real-world concerns that youth and parents have about vaping.
• Thinking through the “on the ground” concern that a relative harm message will encourage vaping.
• Deciding what to tell youth about nicotine vaping and to whom to deliver that message.
• People’s experiences as to how nicotine vaping intersects with mental distress, adverse childhood events, and other substance use.
• How to target adolescents at highest risk for negative health outcomes.