Phone Counseling Aids in Smoking Cessation
Phone Counseling Aids in Smoking Cessation
Oct. 12, 2009 — Proactive telephone counseling and individually tailored motivational interviews help teen smokers kick the habit, new research indicates.
Two studies, published in the Oct. 12 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, indicate smoking-cessation programs that involve motivational techniques and personalized behavioral skills training by phone can make it easier for teens to give up the habit early.
Arthur V. Peterson, PhD, and colleagues at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle designed a smoking- cessation program to evaluate the effectiveness of individualized telephone counseling.
They identified more than 2,000 smokers through classroom surveys of juniors in 50 high schools in Washington state. In half of those schools, teen smokers received smoking-cessation counseling that combined motivational interviewing and cognitive behavioral skills training.
The techniques used the smoker’s own words and values to increase the importance of quitting, anticipating and coping with stress and other smoking triggers, and making plans to stop, the researchers say.
More than a year after the intervention started, nearly 22% of counseled teen smokers reported six months of abstinence, compared to almost 18% among students in a non-interventional group. For teens who were daily smokers, the difference in six-month smoking abstinence was statistically significant (10% vs. 6%).
Researchers say they found evidence that intervention made a difference, even as early as after seven days.
Kathleen Kealey, also of the Hutchinson Center’s Cancer Prevention Program, contends in a second article that the design of the study was conducive to success. Students were telephoned by trained counselors who delivered personalized smoking-cessation tips and motivational interviewing.
“Motivational interviewing is very caring, nonjudgmental, and respectful,†Kealey says in a news release. “It is non-confrontational. A counselor would never say, ‘I want you to quit smoking.’ Instead the counselor would ask what the behavior means to the participant. What do they like about it? What don’t they like about it?â€
Scott Leischow, PhD, and Eva Matthews, MPH, both of University of Arizona cancer and community medicine centers, describe the success of the program as remarkable in an accompanying editorial. They credit the researchers’ success to good relationships with the school system and a rigorous implementation strategy tailored to individual students.
“When a game-changing study provides new hope for how tobacco-using youth can be treated, the collective ears of the public health community should perk to attention,†Leischow and Matthews write. The research by Peterson and colleagues, they say, is such a study.
Incoming search terms for the article:
Similar articles
- Parenthood Offers Motivation to Quit Smoking
Parenthood Offers Motivation to Quit Smoking Feb. 1, 2010 — With some gentle prodding, new parents can be motivated to make more attempts to quit smoking, a new study says. The trick seems to be getting pregnant women and new moms and dads to understand the dangers of secondhand smoke to unborn and newborn babies, ... - Parenthood Offers Motivation to Quit Smoking
Parenthood Offers Motivation to Quit Smoking Postpartum Period Is Prime Time to Teach New Parents About Smoking Cessation, Researchers Say By Bill Hendrick WebMD Health News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD Feb. 1, 2010 — With some gentle prodding, new parents can be motivated to make more attempts to quit smoking, a new study says. ... - For Researchers – Scientific Divisions & Programs
FreshBreakâ„ Smoking Cessation Clinic FreshBreak™ offers free or low-cost smoking cessation programs to the Tampa Bay community. Smoking cessation counseling is typically offered to individuals or small groups that meet at the clinic in the afternoon or early evening. Mission FreshBreak™ has two missions. The first is to provide high-quality assistance to smokers seeking ... - Tufts EBCAM: Acupuncture and Smoking Cessation
Acupuncture and Smoking Cessation According to the American Lung Association, [1] cigarette smoking is the most important source of preventable morbidity and mortality worldwide. It is responsible for one in five deaths in the US, and in 1999, over 440,000 deaths were attributed to cigarette smoking. Annual smoking related health care costs were estimated over ... - Online Clinical Hypnotherapy Degree by Distance Learning
Our online distance education program offers students the opportunity to study a comprehensive curriculum in the Clinical Hypnotherapy degree program and receive their bachelor of science degree in this specialty. All of the courses are focused on the degree major thus allowing students maximum learning in the core courses and the education needed today to ...
Twitter