Expanding the reach of the Quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues – a pilot study
Background In Canada, although there are periodic media campaigns to raise awareness of Quitlines, these services are underused. We sought to determine if a dedicated kiosk, similar to that used in the retail industry but staffed by volunteers trained in smoking cessation techniques, would be effect...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
European Publishing
2015-06-01
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| Series: | Tobacco Induced Diseases |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.journalssystem.com/tid/Expanding-the-reach-of-the-Quitline-by-engaging-volunteers-to-market-it-in-hospitals-and-shopping-venues-a-pilot-study,67158,0,2.html |
| _version_ | 1811322041746325504 |
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| author | Fadi Hammal Alyssa Chappell Katherine Pohoreski Barry A. Finegan |
| author_facet | Fadi Hammal Alyssa Chappell Katherine Pohoreski Barry A. Finegan |
| author_sort | Fadi Hammal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background
In Canada, although there are periodic media campaigns to raise awareness of Quitlines, these services are underused. We sought to determine if a dedicated kiosk, similar to that used in the retail industry but staffed by volunteers trained in smoking cessation techniques, would be effective method to enhance Quitline reach.
Methods
We located a kiosk in the foyer of two hospitals and in two shopping malls in Edmonton, Canada between Feb/2012 and July/2014. The cessation intervention was based on the 5 A's approach. Outcome was assessed by number of visits to the kiosk and referral rates to the Quitline. A cross sectional survey among small sample of visitors was used for evaluation. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize visitors’ data.
Results
Of 1091 kiosk visitors, 53.3 % were current smokers, of whom 93.3 % indicated a willingness to quit. Of these, 32.1 % requested a Quitline referral at the time of the kiosk visit. Referral requests to the Quitline were greater when the kiosk was located in the non-hospital setting 39.1 % compared to 31.1 % in hospitals (P = 0.2). Referrals from the kiosk represented 6 % of total referrals received by the provincial Quitline during the study period. Following referral the Quitline was able to reach 50 % of those referred, of those, 17 % refused to proceed. At seven month follow up 30 day abstinence rate was 3.8 % of smokers who wished quit. Visitors agreed that the kiosk design was interesting (89.3 %) and increased their knowledge about tobacco and cessation options (88.8 %) and encouraged them to take action to quit (85.7 %).
Conclusions
A “volunteer manned kiosk” can increase awareness of smoking cessation resources in the community and increase referral rates to Quitline services. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:28:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6eece06d74b64b72a16bf87b0642e7c4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1617-9625 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T13:28:14Z |
| publishDate | 2015-06-01 |
| publisher | European Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Tobacco Induced Diseases |
| spelling | doaj.art-6eece06d74b64b72a16bf87b0642e7c42022-12-22T02:45:03ZengEuropean PublishingTobacco Induced Diseases1617-96252015-06-0113June10.1186/s12971-015-0040-067158Expanding the reach of the Quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues – a pilot studyFadi Hammal0Alyssa Chappell1Katherine Pohoreski2Barry A. Finegan3Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, CanadaDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, CanadaDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, CanadaDepartment of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, CanadaBackground In Canada, although there are periodic media campaigns to raise awareness of Quitlines, these services are underused. We sought to determine if a dedicated kiosk, similar to that used in the retail industry but staffed by volunteers trained in smoking cessation techniques, would be effective method to enhance Quitline reach. Methods We located a kiosk in the foyer of two hospitals and in two shopping malls in Edmonton, Canada between Feb/2012 and July/2014. The cessation intervention was based on the 5 A's approach. Outcome was assessed by number of visits to the kiosk and referral rates to the Quitline. A cross sectional survey among small sample of visitors was used for evaluation. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize visitors’ data. Results Of 1091 kiosk visitors, 53.3 % were current smokers, of whom 93.3 % indicated a willingness to quit. Of these, 32.1 % requested a Quitline referral at the time of the kiosk visit. Referral requests to the Quitline were greater when the kiosk was located in the non-hospital setting 39.1 % compared to 31.1 % in hospitals (P = 0.2). Referrals from the kiosk represented 6 % of total referrals received by the provincial Quitline during the study period. Following referral the Quitline was able to reach 50 % of those referred, of those, 17 % refused to proceed. At seven month follow up 30 day abstinence rate was 3.8 % of smokers who wished quit. Visitors agreed that the kiosk design was interesting (89.3 %) and increased their knowledge about tobacco and cessation options (88.8 %) and encouraged them to take action to quit (85.7 %). Conclusions A “volunteer manned kiosk” can increase awareness of smoking cessation resources in the community and increase referral rates to Quitline services.http://www.journalssystem.com/tid/Expanding-the-reach-of-the-Quitline-by-engaging-volunteers-to-market-it-in-hospitals-and-shopping-venues-a-pilot-study,67158,0,2.htmlsmokingcessationpromotionquitline |
| spellingShingle | Fadi Hammal Alyssa Chappell Katherine Pohoreski Barry A. Finegan Expanding the reach of the Quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues – a pilot study Tobacco Induced Diseases smoking cessation promotion quitline |
| title | Expanding the reach of the Quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues – a pilot study |
| title_full | Expanding the reach of the Quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues – a pilot study |
| title_fullStr | Expanding the reach of the Quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues – a pilot study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Expanding the reach of the Quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues – a pilot study |
| title_short | Expanding the reach of the Quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues – a pilot study |
| title_sort | expanding the reach of the quitline by engaging volunteers to market it in hospitals and shopping venues a pilot study |
| topic | smoking cessation promotion quitline |
| url | http://www.journalssystem.com/tid/Expanding-the-reach-of-the-Quitline-by-engaging-volunteers-to-market-it-in-hospitals-and-shopping-venues-a-pilot-study,67158,0,2.html |
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