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JOIN THE
AppalTRUST SURVEY!

Click the link to check if you are eligible for the survey!

Ready to sign up?

About the AppalTRUST Survey

  • This research project aims to make sure that Appalachians have a say when the FDA makes decisions about tobacco and nicotine products.

  • We want to hear from people whether or not you use these products.

  • We won’t ask anyone to quit using any of these products.

How it Works

  • Take a 30-45 minute survey every 6 months, online or in-person.

  • Get $50 on a debit card for each survey.

COMMON
QUESTIONS

  • AppalTRUST is led by the University of Kentucky in collaboration with the Kentucky office of the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation (PIRE).

  • You may be eligible for the main survey if:

    • You are 18 years or older

    • You live in one of these Kentucky counties: Boyd, Breathitt, Carter, Greenup, Knott, Leslie, Letcher, or Perry County, Kentucky

    You may also be eligible for other related studies.

  • • What you think about tobacco and nicotine products.

    • If you have used or not used any of these products and how often.

    • How these products are marketed in your community.

  • • To tell your story and make Appalachian Kentucky voices be heard!

    • The FDA uses national information to make decisions about which tobacco and nicotine products can be sold and how.

    • Before this project, Appalachian voices were often not heard in making those decisions.

  • • We plan to sign up 2,000 people for the study.

    • Half (1,000 people) will sign up through Household Sample:

    o We will randomly choose addresses in the study counties and then randomly select one adult in the household who can sign up for the study.

    • The other half (1,000 people) will sign up through Community Sample:

    o Any interested adults (age 18 and older) living in the study counties can contact the AppalTRUST team or click on the link above to check if they are eligible to sign up for the study.

    o We will also talk to people in the community at a variety of locations – such as community events, churches, schools, parks, stores, and other public places – and invite them to sign up, if eligible.

  • • For the main part of the study, our current plan is to collect surveys from people every 6 months until spring of 2028. Depending on when you sign up, you could take the main survey up to 8 times.

    • We will also let people know when they might be eligible to sign up for other parts of the study. These parts would involve additional data collection and gift card payments.

    • We also hope to renew the project for more years beyond 2028. If that happens, people will be able to choose if they want to take part in future phases of the study.

  • • This study is funded by a grant to University of Kentucky from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH, National Institute on Drug Abuse), grant number U54DA058256 (Seth Himelhoch, MD, Principal Investigator).

More questions?

Contact your local AppalTRUST Team Member or appaltrust@uky.edu.

ABOUT AppalTRUST

MISSION

To investigate the impact of Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Center for Tobacco Products regulatory priorities in rural Appalachia through collaboration, education, and pioneering regulatory scientific research.

OBJECTIVES

  • Facilitate and pioneer tobacco regulatory science research in Appalachian Kentucky.

  • Support and create new opportunities for innovative tobacco regulatory science and contribute to the national efforts to advance tobacco regulatory science through education and collaboration.

COMMUNITIES
OF FOCUS

AppalTRUST research activities will focus on two groups of counties in Appalachian Kentucky:

Heat map of the state of Kentucky, displaying urban and rural areas.

AppalTRUST
RESEARCH

The FDA makes rules (called “regulations”) about which tobacco and nicotine products can be sold in the United States. The FDA how uses information from across the country to make those decisions. Before the AppalTRUST project, Appalachian voices were often not heard in the process of making those decisions.

The goal of the AppalTRUST Survey is to ensure that Appalachians have a say when the FDA makes decisions about tobacco and nicotine products. The AppalTRUST team will also gather information about where and how tobacco and nicotine products are marketed and sold in specific counties.

The team will use this information to examine how changes in FDA rules have an impact on the use and marketing of tobacco and nicotine products in Appalachian Kentucky. In particular, the team will compare the impacts across communities that are more rural and less rural (“relative rurality”).

Click here to learn more about the AppalTRUST education and training activities, faculty, staff, and scholars.

Ready to sign up?

Click the link to check if you are eligible for the survey!