FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 26, 2006
American Academy of Family Physicians
800-274-2237
American Academy of Family Physicians receives more than $118,000 to fund local outreach against tobacco use
LEAWOOD, KS - Kansas City area elementary students will have the opportunity to participate in a nationwide educational program that discourages tobacco use thanks to a grant from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. Managed by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the Tar Wars program will reach more than 30,000 local students, many of them minorities, in 1,000 Kansas City area classrooms this year.
Tar Wars is a one-hour classroom presentation for fourth- and fifth-grade students that can be implemented at any time during the school year. Students engage in a series of six interactive activities designed to increase their knowledge of the short-term effects of tobacco use, help them identify reasons people use tobacco products, and prompt them to think critically about tobacco advertising. Following the presentation, students can participate in a Tar Wars poster contest at the school, state, and national levels.
The Tar Wars Project in Greater Kansas City begins this month. Local family physicians and other health and community professionals will visit schools with the Tar Wars message. They will present to students in Cass, Jackson, and Lafayette counties in Missouri and in Allen, Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas.
"This project will present Tar Wars to a more diverse student population than we've ever reached in Kansas City," said family physician Julie Wood, MD, of Lee's Summit, Missouri, a Tar Wars advisor. "We'll have greater diversity among our presenters as well."
In the past, some Kansas City schools did not have the resources to offer the Tar Wars program to students, Wood said. With more than $118,000 in funding from the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, the AAFP can now offer the curriculum online and in hard-copy format. Kansas City schools with Hispanic students will have access to handouts in Spanish and English, as well as sample ads to combat advertisements from tobacco companies.
The Tar Wars program aims to encourage kids to become peer advocates against tobacco use. "Peer influence is a strong motivator in this age group," Wood said. "Kids acting and speaking against tobacco use will serve as positive role models for other children."
Tar Wars in KC
Each year, the Tar Wars lesson reaches approximately 500,000 fourth- and fifth-grade students nationwide. Since its development in 1988, the Tar Wars program has been implemented in all 50 states, as well as internationally and has reached more than 7 million children worldwide, with volunteer presenters delivering the Tar Wars message to students.
About the American Academy of Family Physicians
Founded in 1947, the AAFP represents more than 94,000 physicians and medical students nationwide. It is the only medical specialty society devoted solely to primary care.
Nearly one in four of all office visits are made to general and family physicians. That is 215 million office visits each year - 59 million more than to any other medical specialty. Today, family physicians provide the majority of care for America's underserved and rural populations.
In the increasingly fragmented world of health care where many medical specialties limit their practice to a particular organ, disease, age or sex, family physicians are dedicated to treating the whole person across the full spectrum of ages. Family medicine’s cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care.
To learn more about the American Academy of Family Physicians and about the specialty of family medicine, please visit http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home.html.
