Efficacy Of Education And Advice Delivered By Text Message To Aid Smoking Cessation
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$538,395.00
Summary
A high proportion of smokers indicate a desire to stop smoking and report having made attempts to quit. However, most attempts are not successful and new methods are needed to support motivated smokers and improve success rates. This project evaluates the use of text messages to deliver advice and support to smokers motivated to stop smoking. We aim to understand if and how this promosing new intervention helps smokers to quit.
The Natural History Of Unassisted Smoking Cessation In Australia
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$329,595.00
Summary
The majority of ex-smokers who successfully quit have done so without using pharmaceutical or counselling support. This study will produce pioneering insights into how and why so many smokers successfully quit without formal assistance. The findings will be conveyed to government, not-for-profit groups, and tobacco cessation professionals in order to help foster favourable social climates for smoking cessation and construct empowering messages about smoking cessation via self-change strategies.
Aboriginal Child And Adolescent Health Improvement Through Aboriginal Leadership And Collaborative Research Teams
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$2,499,589.00
Summary
Continued progress to improve the health of Aboriginal children and adolescents will help drive continued improvements in the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The proposed CRE will harness the potential of several leading research projects in these areas and provide additional training for Aboriginal researchers at varying levels of career development. A comprehensive program to translate these programs to policy changes is core the the CRE.
Smoking Cessation For Youth Project Booster And Cohort Tracking Study
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$135,550.00
Summary
Adolescence is a critical period for the establishment of adult drug use behaviours. If smoking does not commence in teenage years it is unlikely to occur. This innovative project not only continues to address tobacco control with this important age group but also builds on evidence from a randomised intervention trial involving over 4,000 Year 9 students tracked over two years. This project was called the Smoking Cessation for Youth Project (SCYP). Preliminary longitudinal analyses of the SCYP ....Adolescence is a critical period for the establishment of adult drug use behaviours. If smoking does not commence in teenage years it is unlikely to occur. This innovative project not only continues to address tobacco control with this important age group but also builds on evidence from a randomised intervention trial involving over 4,000 Year 9 students tracked over two years. This project was called the Smoking Cessation for Youth Project (SCYP). Preliminary longitudinal analyses of the SCYP data indicate that the intervention students were significantly less likely to smoke heavily (smoking five or more days per week) than the control group and that intervention students were also significantly less likely to have tried smoking than the control group. These results represent a world first in evidence that population-based smoking cessation interventions among teenagers can be successful. The proposed project will determine the extent to which these positive intervention effects are sustainable, two years post intervention, as our cohort moves into Year 12. In addition to tracking the possible decay of SCYP intervention effects, the proposed project will also measure the effects of a booster intervention delivered students when they are in Year 12 (2002). The Year 12 intervention will comprise an innovative self-help 'magazine style' booster and a supportive environmental intervention involving school nurses and local GPs. This proposal represents a cost-effective opportunity to measure the effectiveness of a Year 12 tobacco cessation booster intervention. Further data on tobacco smoking behaviour in 2002 will also enable us to determine how long the SCYP intervention appears to affect behaviour and whether 'boosters' are needed in later secondary school years to maintain the benefits.Read moreRead less
Adding An Electronic-cigarette To Standard Behavioural Treatment For Low-socioeconomic Status Smokers: A Randomised Trial.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,381,127.00
Summary
Behavioural and pharmacological approaches to smoking cessation are effective at helping people to quit but long-term quit rates remain low, especially among low-SES Australians. The electronic cigarette may complement current treatment approaches. We will conduct a large-scale trial to determine if “e-cigarettes” can improve on the efficacy of existing treatments. The findings would have immediate practical implications that could reduce the preventable deaths of many tobacco smokers.
Mass Disseminable Approaches To Smoking Cessation In General Practice
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$412,100.00
Summary
Tobacco smoking is the most significant preventable cause of mortality in Australia. At any one time, many smokers want to quit. There are several interventions that are known to work in research settings, such as advice from care providers, self-help materials, drug therapies and telephone counselling. This study wants to find out if these strategies work in ordinary general practice. Over 50% of Australian have access to the Internet and research suggests that seeking health information is one ....Tobacco smoking is the most significant preventable cause of mortality in Australia. At any one time, many smokers want to quit. There are several interventions that are known to work in research settings, such as advice from care providers, self-help materials, drug therapies and telephone counselling. This study wants to find out if these strategies work in ordinary general practice. Over 50% of Australian have access to the Internet and research suggests that seeking health information is one of the most common uses of this technology. The rapid growth of Internet use potentially provides access to a number of cessation aids for tobacco smokers, including online support through 'chat rooms'. It is also possible to tailor interventions to individuals according to their stated interests and readiness to quit. General practitioners, in addition to providing support and care to smokers attemtping to quit, can direct them to community services such as Quit Victoria, which now offers smoking cessation programs tailored to individuals' needs delivered either through telephone counselling or by the Internet. We want to know whether more smokers quit successfully if their GP refers them to Quit services in addition to their usual care. As well as assessing the effectiveness of broadly distributable interventions in smoking cessation, this project will also collect data about the use of the Internet for health research. Little is known about how to perform research on the Web. This project will allow automatic monitoring of how people respond to research endeavours in this environment.Read moreRead less
Quitlink: Accessible Smoking Cessation Support For People Living With Severe And Enduring Mental Illness
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$1,141,189.00
Summary
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in people with severe mental illness (SMI). Although smokers with SMI want to quit, tailored interventions are rarely delivered in practice. Quitlines are well placed but underutilised by this group. “Quitlink” will utilise peer workers within mental health services to engage smokers with SMI in a tailored Quitline intervention. We will also qualitatively examine facilitators and barriers to cessation in order to improve future interventions.
Unintended Adverse Effects Of Advertising For Nicotine Replacement Therapies
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$133,250.00
Summary
Advertising for certain pharmaceutical products (nicotine replacement therapy( NRT)) to help people quit smoking has been permitted in Australia since 1997. Zyban, an antidepressant drug, has been found to be helpful in quitting smoking, but advertising has not yet been permitted in Australia although it is allowed overseas. Because such advertising will reach more than the primary target group of heavy smokers ready to quit, it is important to consider the responses of other smokers who are not ....Advertising for certain pharmaceutical products (nicotine replacement therapy( NRT)) to help people quit smoking has been permitted in Australia since 1997. Zyban, an antidepressant drug, has been found to be helpful in quitting smoking, but advertising has not yet been permitted in Australia although it is allowed overseas. Because such advertising will reach more than the primary target group of heavy smokers ready to quit, it is important to consider the responses of other smokers who are not ready to quit and those at risk of taking up smoking. There is concern that there may be 'boomerang' effects, albeit unintended, on these population groups, because they may feel reassured that there is an effective method to quit and so be in no rush to quit soon, they may try to quit using these products before they are really ready, and in the case of teenagers, they may think that these products make it easy to quit, so there is less problem with starting to smoke. In order to assess if this is so, we will randomly allocate smokers not yet ready to quit and teenagers to either (a) a group where they view 3 ads promoting non-drug methods of quitting, such as the Quitline, (b) a group where they view 3 ads promoting the NRT gum or patch, or (c) a group where they view 3 ads promoting Zyban as a method for quitting. The study will use questionnaires to assess whether, compared with those viewing the non-drug anti-smoking ads, those viewing the NRT or Zyban ads think smoking is less addictive and have less intention to quit, or in the case of teenagers, have more intention to take up smoking. This project will be the first formal study to assess whether there may be adverse effects of NRT and Zyban advertising on smokers not yet ready to quit and teenagers who are not already regular smokers. For this reason, the study will help an assessment of the risks of such advertising compared with the established benefits for smokers who are ready to quit.Read moreRead less