, 2006; Ma et al., 2004; Yu et al., 2002). A large subset of Chinese American males is less likely to report consideration of physician Temsirolimus CCI-779 advice to quit smoking and hence is less likely to have adequate knowledge of early cancer symptoms (Fu et al.; Yu et al.). Typically, Chinese American smoking behaviors are culturally bound with adverse health issues related to smoking being dealt within the context of Chinese culture and traditional medicine (Hu et al., 2006; Yu et al.). There is a dearth of culturally appropriate smoking intervention programs to promote cessation within Chinese American communities. Accessibility to culturally unfamiliar intervention programs has not led to significant changes in smoking behaviors (Spigner, Yip, Huang, & Tu, 2007).

Research to date, however, has identified intervention strategies that could effect better quit and cessation outcomes. Two studies have shown that physician-led smoking interventions may lead to higher quit and cessation rates among Chinese Americans (Ferketich et al., 2004; Spigner et al.). Although knowledge about the adverse impact of tobacco use on the health of Chinese Americans in NYC is low, general awareness of the city’s restrictive ordinances against smoking in public places has created a need in the community for culturally and linguistically specific smoking prevention and cessation programs. The city’s Chinese community is composed largely of new immigrants, who, like their predecessors, adhere to Chinese cultural norms (Shelley et al., 2004). Two studies by Spigner et al. (2007) and Yu et al.

(2002) found that former Chinese smokers may not consider prevailing approaches to prevention and cessation, particularly nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), to be effective, which may have led to limited uptake in comparison with ��cold turkey�� methods. The authors note that the effectiveness of culturally appropriate therapies, especially those that relate to introduction of NRT, need further study. Prochaska and DiClemente’s (1983) Transtheoretical Model (TTM) has often been applied to smoking cessation programs to stimulate behavior change. The core constructs of TTM, around which other dimensions are organized, are the stages of change: precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance. These represent ordered categories to change problem behavior along a continuum of motivational readiness.

Matching interventions to the specific stage of change is important to promoting retention in smoking cessation interventions (Prochaska, 1996). Few intervention studies, however, have targeted Chinese Americans, the largest subset of Asian ethnic groups in the United States. A generic Asian QUIT program Batimastat was first developed and later tailored to specifically meet the cultural and linguistic needs of several Asian American ethnic communities, including Chinese (Ma, 1999).