STOMP (Stop Smoking with Mobile Phones)
Skip contentUniversity of Auckland researchers have come up with a world-first programme to use cell phones to help young people stop smoking.
One in five young smokers is actively trying to quit and a further third want to quit but are not yet making active attempts.
The STOMP (Stop Smoking with Mobile Phones) programme sends personalised text messages to help with motivation and provide distraction and feedback. There are also personalised support and interest messages, quit buddies and “text crave” where support messages can be “pulled” on demand to counteract cravings.
The programme included a free month of outgoing text messaging, with the hope that this would be like ‘chewing gum for your fingers’.
Interim results from a trial conducted among 1700 young smokers throughout New Zealand showed a two-fold increase in reported quit rates at six weeks. After six months quit rates were 36% higher than rates in a control group.
The Clinical Trials Research Unit at the University of Auckland carries out specialist health research and has an international reputation for high-quality, large-scale trials and studies.
The programme has been named as a finalist in the NZ 2005 Health Innovation Awards.
Article supplied by:
Trish Green
HIA Communications Advisor
www.healthinnovationawards.co.nz
