title: Who are health influencers? Characterizing a sample of tobacco cessation interveners.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe characteristics of health influencers (HIs) prior to training in brief tobacco cessation interventions (BI).
  
  
  METHODS
  HIs (n=910) in Arizona were recruited for a randomized controlled trial comparing training modalities.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Typically middle-aged (M=43, SD=14), non-Hispanic white (68%), female (77%), non-tobacco users (93%), most identified personal (89%) rather than job-related (3%) motivators for becoming cessation interveners. Confidence about intervention ability was high (93%); knowledge scores, however, were low (M=55%, SD=13%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HIs exhibiting high motivation to intervene but lacking knowledge about BI strategies may be an untapped resource for tobacco cessation and a variety of other health promotion interventions.
authors.affiliation: University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Tucson, AZ 85724-5052, USA.
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Mary Z
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Mays
authors.forename: Nicole P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Myra L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Muramoto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001130:Arizona; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D011209:Power, Psychological; D020377:Self Efficacy; D016540:Smoking Cessation