Empowering students: A collaborative approach to vaping prevention
A new collaborative venture involving SPHPM researchers, Monash University Health Services (UHS) and VicHealth is tackling vaping among students via a project that harnesses the views and experiences of students around e-cigarette use and prevention. The project aims to raise awareness and provide resources to students around the harms of vaping in the community.
Among numerous vape-free resources created by students for the project, two stood out and were put forward to go to an inter-University competition judged by Australian Health Promotion Association members – Aly Pearce’s video (watch here on YouTube) and a poster created by Khue Le.
The rise of vaping
A new generation of Australians is coming to terms with the health risks of nicotine, after largely successful public health campaigns to reduce tobacco intake saw huge decreases in smoking during the past 30 years.
In 2022–23, 49 per cent of young Australians between 18–24 years reported using e-cigarettes at least once, a figure that is almost double the reported use in the same age group in 2019 (26 per cent).
A survey conducted by our Department of General Practice researchers in 2023 revealed that 26.9 per cent of students had used e-cigarettes, with 7.7 per cent reporting daily use. Overall knowledge about e-cigarettes was poor in this cohort, and students felt more information could be provided to them by University Health Services.
Associate Professor Chris Barton led this research, and spearheaded the current project. “It was this finding at Monash that really drove our involvement in this project,” he says. “VicHealth have been doing a lot of work in this space, championing vaping prevention programs, and were keen to work with us as part of their Collective Impact approach.”
An authentic, collaborative approach with students
A key pillar of VicHealth’s approach to vaping prevention is to listen to the experiences and perceptions of young people, both toward vaping, but also about vaping prevention. Across the scope of the project, the research team involved both undergraduate and postgraduate students from various Monash faculties in different capacities and roles, all designed for students to take the lead and ensure that the student voice is central in the design, development, and dissemination of the final vape-free messages.
This project was conceptualised to create an authentic, student-led learning environment where students could develop and apply their theoretical skills and knowledge in collaboration with experts and leading industry stakeholders.
Peer-to-Peer Health Promotion: The Monash Vape Free Champs
Ten students from a range of degree programs were employed as Monash Vape Free Champs. These students attended events across Monash University campuses, including those run by Monash Residential Services, Monash Sport, and Monash International Student Societies, to initiate discussions with their peers about vaping. These discussions provided the opportunity to promote and disseminate the messages of the Minderoo Foundation’s UNCLOUD Campaign, and promote the University Health Service. The Vape Free Champs attended 10 events and held over 1,300 discussions in just a two-month period.
Being a vape-free champ gave me a great chance to chat with my peers about vaping. We ended up learning a lot from each other. Many students agreed with the view that vaping was harmful, but weren't sure exactly why. I learned that the current vaping culture was more of an opt-in rather than opt-out, and that many students were comfortable refusing vapes in social settings. Talking to students one-on-one was a great way to start conversations.
– Rachel Chen, Vape Free Champion
Student Led Research: Capacity Building for Health Professionals
Previous engagement with GPs at the Monash UHS revealed a need to enhance their vaping knowledge. To address this, the team engaged a Scholarly Intensive Placement Student (SIP) from the Monash Medicine degree, supervised by Associate Professor Chris Barton and Susan Kotwas from UHS to investigate this knowledge gap. The student conducted a needs analysis of health professionals at UHS, assessing their current vaping knowledge, confidence in discussing vaping with patients, awareness of vaping prevention and cessation tools, and suggestions for resource development.
The SIP student also conducted a literature review and consulted experts to find specific resources on vaping cessation for primary care settings. A resource pack was developed and shared with UHS health professionals through clinical meetings, one-on-one sessions, and electronically. Following the distribution, a follow-up survey was conducted to evaluate the usefulness of the resource pack and whether it met the information needs.
This student worked closely with UHS GPs, nurses, and counsellors to develop a meaningful resource pack, which addressed a need and increased the capability of staff to confidently deliver vaping cessation support and information.
Student-Led Industry Collaboration: Health Promotion Resource Development
Another key element of this project was to develop Monash-specific vaping prevention resources. The team engaged Aly Pearce, a Master of Public Health (MPH) student, to lead the resource development as part of her final year placement. Aly (supervised by Holly Wild from our Medical Education Research Quality Team) worked as a project manager on the development of the resources and led a small team of MPH students who were engaged co-curricularly alongside their full-time study.
These students engaged with Alyce Jenkins and the Vaping Prevention Team at the South East Public Health Unit – SEPHU – to understand the important work currently being done at the local level to prevent vaping and promote health. They were also provided with opportunities to attend and present at key stakeholder working group meetings, giving them key insights into the day-to-day work of health promotion program planning.
These students then worked together to plan, recruit, and conduct formative evaluation focus groups. These focus groups were designed to understand the best ways to capture the attention of their undergraduate peers via health promotion messages. The findings of these focus groups provided key insights, allowing students to design and plan a social marketing campaign tailored to the needs of the Monash student cohort. They were mentored by a professional videographer to plan, film, and edit this suite of vaping prevention resources.
This industry placement was an opportunity to collaborate with industry professions and use the knowledge gained in my studies in practical application; and also to appreciate the nuances of stakeholder engagement, target market research and the development and message testing of a suite of health promotion resources. The placement provided invaluable industry experience and connections and the opportunity to contribute to this important public health issue.
– Aly Pearce, MPH Placement Student
Throwing it to the Crowd: The Inter-University Challenge
The final element of student engagement was aimed at further strengthening our focus on the student voice by providing the broader university cohort the opportunity to participate in the development of vape-free messages. Students were encouraged to enter their vape-free slogans, posters, or short videos to be in the running to represent Monash in a Victorian inter-university health promotion competition.
Successful designs from Monash students won a $250 gift card and were entered into an inter-university competition for the chance to win a $1,500 JB HiFi voucher. This competition will be judged by the Australian Health Promotion Association.
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