Join the AppalTRUST Survey!

Did you get a postcard, letter or door hanger from AppalTRUST at your house?

If so, click the link to check if your household is eligible for the survey.

About the AppalTRUST Sruvey

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

Who can sign up?

  • For the Household Sample portion of the AppalTRUST survey, we will enroll people from 1000 randomly selected households in eight Appalachian counties.

  • Within each household, we’ll randomly select one adult (18 or older) to sign up.

  • Household members not selected may be able to participate in other ways.

  • We want ALL voices to be heard – you do NOT have to use tobacco or nicotine products to be included.

How does it work?

  • The person chosen will take a 30-45-minute survey every 6 months (online or in-person). They will get $50 for each survey.

  • We will NOT ask anyone to quit using tobacco or nicotine products.

  • Surveys are confidential.

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).

    • 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:

      • 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:

      • 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.

      • 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).

    • Yes, the AppalTRUST Survey team plans to share the results widely. We will combine together and summarize the data from all the people who take part in the survey. Then we will share the results with people who are in the study and with local communities in several ways, such as:

      • AppalTRUST newsletter

      • AppalTRUST website

      • Social media and news media

      • Annual community forums and other presentations in the community

      • Reports to the FDA and NIH

      • Articles in scientific journals

More Questions?

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

Click the link to check if your household is eligible for the survey!