“Clean Air for Babies” App: A smoking cessation mobile app based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy combined with personal counseling to help expectant mothers quit smoking.

Abstract

Introduction Approximately 5%-10% of pregnant women smoke worldwide, placing their unborn babies under risk of complicated medical conditions. To date, common smoking cessation treatments have shown to be less adequate for smoking expectant mothers since the safety of anti-smoking medications during pregnancy has not yet been clearly proven, and current behavioral interventions available today fail to meet the intense emotional needs of this population. Our company, Mind Innovations, develops and integrates digital health solutions. Our aim is to reduce perinatal smoking by developing a clinical-based solution tailored specifically to the expectant mother that consists of three modules: (1) CBT-based mobile app, (2) 6-week personal counseling program, and (3) Patient Relationship Management (PRM) tool. We expect this will fill the gap where other solutions fall short by better addressing this population's unique needs. Methods Mind Innovations collaborated with Meuhedet Health Provider, Israel to develop, implement, and recruit patients for this program. We created an 18-hour clinical training course designed to qualify experienced counselors for running a 6-week personal counseling program that prepares the perinatal smoker towards her quit date aided by our PRM. We developed a CBT-based app that provides motivation, knowledge, and training for preparing patients to succeed in meeting their quit date and preventing relapses Results We used questionnaires to evaluate our counselor training course. Results show satisfaction was very high (Mean=9.81/10 ;sd=0.48), and knowledge and skills increased from 5.93 to 8.86 (on a scale of 1-10, paired t-test ; p<0.001). The intervention program's results will be published soon. Conclusions Counselor training has proved successful. Our mobile intervention program is undergoing research. Funding The project was funded by Global Bridges organization for Meuedet Health provider, Israel, and developed by Mind Innovations, a company specializing in developing digital health solutions.