Young Americans Want To Quit Smoking But Questio…
Many young smokers want to kick the habit but don’t know which method to choose.
That’s the premise of a University of Illinois at Chicago project aimed at zeroing in on Internet-based smoking cessation treatments.
The director of UIC’s Institute for Health Research and Policy, Professor Robin Mermelstein, says “even though many young adults think about quitting and actually want to stop smoking, they tend not to use what we know works, evidence-based approaches to quitting.” He says young adults aged 18 to 24 have the highest rates of smoking among all age groups but the lowest rate of quitting.
UIC researchers will spend two-point-nine-million dollars provided by the National Cancer Institute to identify smoking cessation programs that really work and make sure those programs are posted online.
The nationwide study will need more than three-thousand young smokers.
All will be recruited through websites like Craigslist.
The researchers will develop Internet-based ads, test to determine whether the ads are reaching young adults and determine what approaches are needed to drive people to Internet-based cessation programs.
