Patient Navigation and Financial Incentives to Promote Smoking Cessation

Summary

Cigarette smoking is a significant health threat. To eliminate disparities in cancer burden, smoking rates must be reduced among populations where smoking is disproportionately concentrated: those with low socioeconomic status (SES). The investigators will apply two methods that are being used in the field of health disparities to the challenge of promoting smoking cessation among low SES smokers. These include: 1) Patient navigation; patient navigators are often lay persons, working as paid employees, who guide patients through the health care system and 2) Financial incentives; investigators propose to provide monetary incentives: $250 for smoking cessation within 6 months after study enrollment, and $500 for an additional 6 months of abstinence after the initial cessation. The investigators will recruit/randomize 352 smokers to a randomized controlled trial comparing the combination of Patient Navigation (delivered over 6 months) and Financial Incentives versus Enhanced Traditional Care control condition (smoking cessation brochure/list of cessation resources). The RCT will take place among adult daily smokers seen in the past year at BMC primary care practices, with a primary outcome of smoking cessation at one year. Follow-up by telephone, for both groups, will occur 6, 12, and 18 months after enrollment.

Conditions

• Smoking Cessation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Intervention

Intervention patients will be introduced to the patient navigator either in person or by telephone. The intervention patients will receive navigation from one of two trained navigators, based centrally in the Section of General Internal Medicine. The purpose of the patient navigation interactions is to 1) connect patients to existing yet underutilized smoking cessation resources and 2) increase patient commitment to follow through with existing treatment services. Financial incentives: $250 for biochemically confirmed abstinence within six months after study enrollment, and $500 for biochemically confirmed abstinence for an additional six months after the initial cessation.

OTHER

Enhanced Traditional Care control

List of smoking cessation resources and educational brochure.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• American Cancer Society, Inc.

  collaborator OTHER

• Boston Medical Center

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Karen Lasser, MD · Boston Medical Center

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2015-05-01

Primary Completion

2017-03-03

Completion

2017-10-01

Countries

• United States

Study Locations