Proactive peer support by telephone to help women quit smoking

Abstract

This report describes a proactive, peer support intervention delivered by telephone for women interested in quitting smoking. Trained female volunteers were matched with women interested in receiving support while they attempted to quit smoking. Telephone contacts were initiated by the peer support counselor just before a designated quit day (if one were specified), on the quit day and weekly thereafter for 2-3 months. Of the 72 women who participated in the intervention, 49 (68%) were reached 1-2 years after enrollment to evaluate their smoking status. Results revealed that 25% of the women were ex-smokers when those not reached were classified conservatively as smokers, Furthermore, 14% were considered to be continuous ex-smokers, based on self-report data. The results of this pilot program suggest that a telephone support system for women staffed by trained ex-smoking peers can achieve long-term smoking cessation outcomes comparable to most behavioral interventions for smoking.