The 3C Model in Smoking Prevention

Twenty AmeriCorps*VISTA members at the Center on Aging and Horizons Intergenerational Wellness at Texas Southern University have partnered with local churches and community organizations in the greater Houston, Texas, area to build a tobacco education and prevention program. By using the center's 3C model of campus, church, and community, the AmeriCorps*VISTA members are able to reach more people in targeted under-served populations who need health care and are often inaccessible due to language barriers and cultural insensitivity. Motivation on the part of the volunteers, careful supervision by the Center's director and skillful program management has been important components of the anti-tobacco initiative's success.

The goal of this program is to maximize the impact of anti-tobacco education by combining resources across the campus, church, and community.

For the past three years, AmeriCorps*VISTA members have worked in 200 churches. In 75 of the churches, an estimated 3,200 people have been impacted by the wellness program. The AmeriCorps*VISTA members disseminated information about illness and disease, promoted awareness, prevention, and cessation concerning tobacco use, and provided similar activities and services to the housebound. The community's involvement in the project increased the number of participants from 3,200 to 6,848.