The Behaviour Change Collaborative was contacted by ABC Mornings for an interview about our Being Gen Vape research following news of increased calls to help lines from teens struggling with vaping.
The interview with Luke van der Beeke is available in full below.
Eddie Williams interview with Luke van der Beeke (MP3)
by ABC Mornings Pilbara and Kimberley 16 November, 2022
If you’re a parent and keen to know more about our research on teen vaping and what teens think adults need to know you may be interested in our upcoming parent information webinar.
The Behaviour Change Collaborative (The BCC) will work Centre For Accessibility Australia to deliver a systemic advocacy grant that aims to fundamentally transform the digital access landscape in Western Australia.
The purpose of the grant, funded by the WA Department of Communities, is to advocate and promote the importance of digital access throughout Australia.
The project is also being supported by Perth-based digital agency Media On Mars.
The BCC’s Founder and Managing Director, Luke van der Beeke said: “We are very much looking forward to working with CFAA and Media on Mars to advocate for, and realise, improved digital access.”
“Digital access is an enabling right for all West Australian’s, and accessible design of new technologies benefits the whole community,” he said.
The project consists of seven parts:
Discovery project: this component focuses on the creation of digital access explainer videos and the publishing of content on the CFA Australia website.
Engage Survey Report: this component is part of the impact measurement processes. Includes surveys for the community and not-for-profit sectors and other benchmarking processes.
Discovery workshops: these are workshops with six Perth and three regional training modules along with the development of two online courses.
Audit to Implementation roadmaps: this includes 20 audits and 20 roadmaps to support organisations in making their content accessible,
Policy development advocacy: this is to develop legal policy and advocate for digital access improvements in policy and legislative frameworks.
Celebrating Success in Digital Access: this is the creation of videos and other materials to celebrate the project outcomes.
Impact measurement and recommendations: this is the impact measurement phase of the project to determine the outcomes of the project and ensure systemic change continues in the space
CFA Australia CEO Dr Scott Hollier said: “We are extremely grateful to the Minister for Disability the Hon. Don Punch and the WA Department of Communities for this incredible opportunity.
I look forward to working with our digital agency partner Media On Mars and The Behaviour Change Collaborative as we fundamentally change how digital access issues are addressed in WA” he said.
A ground-breaking behavioural study by Perth-based social enterprise The Behaviour Change Collaborative (The BCC) has found that for most teens, vaping is perceived as normal.
The BCC’s Founder and Managing Director Luke van der Beeke said teenagers themselves confirmed the growing evidence that vaping amongst their peers is widespread.
The research was conducted over two iterative stages with 92 Western Australian teenagers attending school years 7-12. It sheds some much-needed light on the knowledge, perceptions, attitudes and influences on teen vaping in Western Australia.
“While many teens know vaping is ‘bad for them’, their knowledge is superficial. For teens who vape, the benefits far outweigh the costs.
“And for teens, the key benefits are the nicotine hit and the flavourings,” Mr van der Beeke said.
The BCC’s Director Behavioural Insight and project lead Donna van Bueren said the research revealed that for most teens, vaping without nicotine or flavour is considered ‘pointless’.
“The majority of teenagers we spoke with who vape, but do not consider themselves addicted, believe they can reduce their risk by limiting their use.
“And many said they didn’t realise they were addicted until it was too late – most of these expressed regret at having started.
“They also try to reconcile their decision to vape with a belief that vaping isn’t as bad as cigarettes, drugs and self-harm.
“Teens believe vapes are just as addictive as cigarettes, but less harmful. They also find vapes much more appealing,” Mrs van Bueren said.
The absence of clear signals such as health warnings and ingredient labelling on vape packaging and the device itself was found to reinforce the perception that vapes were less harmful than cigarettes.
The research found that youth involvement with vaping isn’t as clear cut as grouping teens into those who vape and those who don’t. Vaping use falls along a continuum from having not tried it and having no desire to do so, to those who are dependent on the product.
Age has some bearing on vaping behaviour but is not the determining factor.
The research also suggests teens reject the notion that vaping is bound up in identity or stereotypes. Rather, it’s just something teenagers do. Most teens were socially introduced to vaping, with their first experience usually occurring in school bathrooms, at parties or friends’ houses.
“The sharing of a vape is a large part of the appeal and is considered normal and omnipresent,” Mrs van Bueren said.
The research indicates that disposable vapes are the most commonly used because they’re easy to access, and cheaper to buy than refillable vapes.
The study found older teens might buy vapes directly from retailers and have rarely, if ever, been asked for ID. Social media trading via ‘drops’ is also common, while younger teens may access vapes through older friends and siblings.
Mr van der Beeke said the research was specifically designed to generate insights that could be used by others to design and pilot interventions to address teen vaping.
“Like everyone in the public health sector, over the past few years we’ve grown increasingly concerned about the apparent increase in vape use amongst children and teenagers.
“There’s a lot of valuable research being undertaken at the moment, and ours adds a behavioural lens to the mix.
“We thought an exploration of the attitudinal and behavioural drivers of teens who vape, and equally importantly, those who don’t vape, would be of real value to efforts to combat this growing public health challenge.
“We’re thankful to Healthway for funding the research and look forward to working with key stakeholders to help address this issue,” Mr van der Beeke said.
An innovative greening project designed to reduce the urban heat island effect has positively influenced community attitudes toward urban greening in some of Perth’s most heat stressed suburbs.
The BCC’s Founder and Managing Director, Luke van der Beeke, said green space and canopy cover has declined in almost all major Australian cities over the past decade.
“Evidence has shown that this has resulted in urban heat islands, with daytime temperatures in affected areas being up to six degrees Celsius warmer than in surrounding areas.
“With lower socio-economic neighbourhoods most at risk, the costs are not just environmental. The urban heat island effect contributes to a range of socio-economic and public health issues that disproportionately impact low-income communities,” he said.
Mr van der Beeke said while revegetation to combat urban heat was the primary goal of the project, it also placed a significant emphasis on motivating and empowering people to take action in their own gardens, and on their front verges.
“First we looked to build awareness of urban heat and its impacts to motivate residents to act. Then, working with project partners, community members were offered skill building workshops so that those who wanted to make changes had the ability to do so.” Mr van der Beeke said.
Dr May Carter, Senior Research Associate at The BCC, said: “We engaged with the community and talked with them about what they would like to see in their local park and what improvements could be achieved through planting more vegetation.
“We looked at the benefits of increasing understory and plants that would attract wildlife, as well as nature play and discovery by young people.
“This helped to build interest and provided people with the knowledge and confidence needed to try things in their own homes,” Dr Carter said.
Mr van der Beeke added: “The parks were our catalyst for change, our focal point. Almost everything we did in the parks could be replicated in people’s gardens because we focused on households in the immediate surrounds. The soils and environs were much the same.”
At the conclusion of the two-year project, a comprehensive evaluation was undertaken evidencing a change in attitudes and behaviours towards urban greening.
Fifty-six per cent of people surveyed said they had been encouraged to plant trees and shrubs in their own garden, with a further 18 per cent saying that they would like to.
In local governments where verge planting was encouraged, almost one-third of respondents had planted trees or shrubs on their verge, as opposed to just 11 per cent where policy was more restrictive.
People who participated in Our Park Our Place were also encouraged to join an environment or community group. For example, in the City of Canning 15 per cent of respondents joined a local group after participating in the project, with a further 45 per cent indicating they were still considering joining one.
Following the conclusion of the project, participants were also more likely to agree that spending time outdoors was important, that green spaces contributed to their health and that they wanted to know more about their local environment.
Over 35,000 seedlings are 344 trees were planted by participating LGA’s and members of their local communities.
Video Credit: Greening Australia
Greening Australia’s Project Lead, Ruth Cripps, said: “These results are incredibly encouraging, because the whole aim of Our Park Our Place has been to inspire and equip residents in heat-affected suburbs with ways to cool their neighbourhoods and better connect with their local green spaces.
“As our climate changes, it is vital for the resilience of our communities that they feel better connected to each other and enabled to improve their environment. That has a profoundly positive effect on health and wellbeing. By encouraging people to plant more greenery and join local groups, the project has helped take these neighbourhoods a few steps further towards being cooler, greener, more climate-resilient places.”
Our Park Our Place was a Lotterywest funded project, managed by Greening Australia in partnership with The Behaviour Change Collaborative. Key partners included the City of Canning, City of Bayswater, Town of Bassendean, and Water Corporation.
The Behaviour Change Collaborative has received Healthway (WA Health Promotion Foundation) funding to explore the growing rate of e-cigarette use amongst Year 7-12 school students.
Despite increasing concern about the high prevalence of vaping among young people, there is little accurate data about the extent of e-cigarette use in Western Australia.
Equally, there is no clear understanding of what e-cigarette use looks like amongst young people, what influences and motivates them to vape, nor how to tailor effective behavioural messaging or more holistic programs to effectively address the issue.
The BCC’s project will explore patterns of use, influences, and motivations for vaping uptake amongst West Australian high school students.
The BCC’s Luke van der Beeke said findings will be used to inform the collaborative design of strategies that seek to reduce the incidence of vaping among WA youth.
“We look forward to sharing our findings with the rest of the sector in a few months’ time,” he said
