Aspire: Smoking Prevention Program

• The University of Texas Health Science Center
• MD Anderson Cancer Center.

The program is made up of 5 modules incorporating videos, interactive exercises, and quizzes (approximately 4 hours of content in total). Students work through the program at their own pace; no teacher involvement is required. A Spanish language version is available. The modules are targeted towards the following motivational stages:

1. “I’ve never smoked before.”
2. “Yeah I smoke, so what?”
3. “I want to quit, what are the steps?”
4. “I’m trying to quit and feeling tempted.”
5. “I’m trying to quit and I’m stressed out.”

Users can select the smoking status and motivational stage most relevant to them, or work their way through all modules sequentially. 

ASPIRE is an interactive online program for teenagers that aims to prevent uptake of smoking, and reduce use for current smokers. It uses a multimedia approach including cartoon animations, interactive exercises, and video testimonials from peers and medical professionals. Aspire was designed in the US with ethnically-diverse communities in mind. Please note that some content is specifically tailored for a US audience and will not be relevant for Australians (e.g., the cost of a packet of cigarettes).  

The program provides information on short- and long-term consequences of smoking, including financial, health, social, and environmental consequences. Guidance for quitting smoking is provided, including:

• Identifying motivations for quitting
• Steps to making a quit plan
• Accessing support
• Understanding addiction
• Understanding and dealing with temptation
• Managing stress and negative thoughts.

• Reduced uptake of smoking.

Benefits of the program have not been evaluated in an Australian sample. Benefits of completing all 5 modules of the Aspire program followed by two brief "booster" sessions have been demonstrated in one published study as listed below.