TABLE 3—

Key Recommendations for Facilitating Smoking Cessation Among Young Adults

Recommendation	Description
Expedite research	There is an urgent need to initiate and support major programs of research on smoking cessation for employed and unemployed young adults (aged 18–24 years). Specific recommendations for research funding agencies include the following: create strategic research grant opportunities aimed at this target population, require funded investigators in tobacco control (whenever appropriate) to differentiate young adults from other age groups in data collection and analyses and to routinely report results broken down by age cohorts and employment status, and require research grant proposals and study reports on tobacco control interventions (including policy analysis) to address issues of plausibility and practicality.
Improve practice	Develop and disseminate evidence-based practice guidelines and toolkits for effective smoking cessation approaches and strategies with young adults; guide would include approaches at multiple levels in various settings, with both context-based and individual strategies for engaging and delivering smoking cessation interventions.
Review policy	Conduct tobacco control policy reviews at national and state levels that analyze the effectiveness of tobacco control policies and accountability frameworks for smoking prevention and cessation with young adults. Results would inform both the research and practice agendas in advancing effective programs.
Give young adults a voice	Concerted efforts are needed to ensure that young adults (smokers and nonsmokers) are involved in formulating research needs and questions, helping with the design and implementation of programs, and creating policy targeted at young adult smoking prevention and cessation. Comments from our focus groups underscore the value of directly involving young adults in knowledge generation and transfer.
Create an agenda for action	Convene a think tank on smoking cessation for young adults; this would bring together national and international experts from the research, practice, and policy fields and provide a forum for the involvement of young adult smokers. The think tank would focus on the needs and recommendations reported in this and other knowledge synthesis reports, and build momentum for coordinated and sustained action. Outcomes from the think tank would include the following: an action plan on specific initiatives for advancing research, practice, and policy regarding smoking cessation for young adults, media events promoting and advocating research and services on smoking cessation, and a virtual knowledge network enabling participants to continue involvement and collaboration supported, in part, by information and communication technology.