Quitters Referring Smokers: A Quitline Chain-referral Pilot Study
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Posted by: Natalia Gromov
BMC Res Notes. 2014 May
5;7(1):282.
Quitters Referring
Smokers: A Quitline Chain-referral Pilot Study.
DeLaughter KL, Volkman JE,
Phillips BD, Houston TK.
Telephone counseling Quitlines can support smoking cessation, but are
under-utilized. We explored the use of smoker peer-referrals to increase use of
a Quitline in Mississippi and Alabama. FINDINGS: Collaborating with the Alabama
and Mississippi Quitline, we piloted peer-referrals to Quitlines. Successful
'quitters' who had used the Quitline were contacted at routine follow-up and
recruited to participate as a peer-referrer and refer their friends and family
who smoked to the Quitline. Peer-referrers completed a training session,
received a manual and a set of Quitline brochures a peer-referral forms. These
peer-referral forms were then returned to the Quitline telephone counselors who
proactively called the referred smokers. Of the initial potential pool of 96
who quit using the Quitline, 24 peer-referrers (75% Women, 29%
African-American, and high school graduates/GED 67%) were recruited and
initially agreed to participate as peer-referrers. From 23 new referrals, three
intakes (100% Women, 66% African-American) were completed. Of the initial pool
of 96, 4 (4%) actively participated in referring friends and family. Quitline
staff and peer-referrers noted several barriers including: time-point in which
potential peer-referrers were asked to participate, an 'overwhelming' referral
form to use and limited ways to refer. CONCLUSIONS: 'Quitters' were willing to
agree to peer-refer. We identified several areas to improve this new method for
increasing awareness and access to support systems like the Quitline for
smokers who want to quit.
|
|
Email to a Friend