Smoking Cessation Support By Phone: What Information Do Smokers Want?

There are different approaches to support smokers that want to quit smoking. In the mobile area there are on the one hand services based on texting like for example Smokefree TXT and on the other hand apps for smartphones like NCI QuitPal. There is also research on the effect of mobile phone-based smoking cessation interventions that shows positive effects in the short-term. More research is needed to determine if there are also positive long-term effects (source). A new study from the University of Cambridge published in the Journal of Applied Biobehavioral Research now tried to figure out what kind of information smokers want. Therefore the researchers choose a qualitative approach with focus group interviews. Here is the abstract of the study:

Recent advances in technology have given rise to novel methods of delivering support to smokers wanting to quit. Mobile phone text messaging permits the delivery of quitting advice at any time, with little effort and at minimal cost. We examined smokers’ attitudes toward text messaging as a tool to facilitate smoking cessation as well as preferences for message content and text delivery. Six focus groups were conducted from a total of 24 participants, with additional information obtained via paper questionnaire. Interaction with the text messaging system, tailoring message content and delivery, highlighting the positive effects of quitting, and offering encouragement by text were considered important features of a text support program. Future text messaging interventions may benefit from these findings.