CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS

Secondhand Smoke Exposure in Lakota Homes

In collaboration with the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and Northern Arizona University, BHCAIH is conducted an innovative research project to address secondhand smoke exposure (SHS-e) in Lakota homes.  With smoking prevalence as high as 50% among Lakota people, the consequences of SHS-e are evident among this population. Furthermore, the expanded use of commercial tobacco products for ceremonial and cultural practices is creating challenges not seen in non-American Indian communities. Therefore, eliminating SHS-e in a culturally appropriate manner is fundamental to decreasing morbidity and mortality among Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe nonsmokers.

The primary study objective for this NIH-R01 funded project was to develop and test a culturally relevant intervention to encourage adoption of smoking restrictions in Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal households where nonsmokers are present. Through a randomized controlled trial, we tested advocacy training both with and without urinary biomarker feedback. Biomarker feedback is an intervention method that can give personalized information—like levels of urinary tobacco-specific pro-carcinogen markers—back to individuals in order to characterize evidence of the negative sequelae of smoking in the household. This study appears to be the first to use biomarker feedback with adult nonsmokers for advocacy efforts.ny improvement experienced by advocacy training-only control group.