Study Personnel

All research team members were paid to participate in the implementation of the study. Included as personnel in each of the 12 counties were an extension agent, an interviewer, and CHW. An extension agent is a member of a statewide Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service²⁵ whose mission is to promote county-specific agricultural, environmental, economic, human health, and well-being initiatives and is partially supported by the US Department of Agriculture. Job postings for interviewers and CHWs were placed through the university’s human resources Web site. Local interviewers were hired to collect baseline and outcome data. In both conditions, a county-specific lay resident was hired as a CHW to implement the protocol. Residents with a health- or counseling-related background were not considered for the CHW position. In CHWF2F counties, a percentage of a county public health department clinic nurse’s salary was paid by project funds to supervise the delivery of the CHWF2F intervention.

All research team members participated in condition-specific face-to-face training to conduct the protocol, as documented in a detailed condition-specific manual. Additionally, prior to implementation of the protocol, in CHWF2F counties, each CHW and county nurse completed a 40-hour tobacco treatment specialist training course conducted by the Ohio Department of Health.