Learning Objectives: At the end of the presentation, attendees will be able to describe the services provided and the population served by the CIS Smoking Call Centers.
Abstract: Objective: The National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service (CIS) provides smoking cessation counseling based on the Stages of Change Theory in either English or Spanish. This presentation will profile callers who utilize this service demonstrating the need for targeted outreach to diverse populations.
Interventions:
Even though the CIS has conducted smoking cessation counseling via the telephone for its entire 25-year history, six regional CIS offices were designated as Smoking Call Centers in 2000. Callers interested in smoking cessation are assessed and staged by information specialists who tailor the service to each caller. During 2001, data was collected and analyzed to describe the callers who utilized this service.
RESULTS:
In 2001, the CIS responded to 325,655 calls – 8,140 (2.5%) about smoking. Requests for smoking cessation counseling were from typical CIS callers: White (65%) females (70%) aged 30-49 (50%) with a high school education or more (87%). Other callers were Hispanic (18%), African American/Black (9%), and Non-Hispanic callers of other ancestry (8%). Previous promotional campaigns have increased requests for smoking cessation counseling among callers of all ethnic groups.
Discussion: Although smoking is the most preventable cause of death, scientific evidence suggests that about one-third of US cancer deaths each year are due to cigarette smoking. Among CIS callers, minority groups are less likely to use the telephone for smoking cessation services. Various regional CIS offices are beginning to evaluate promotion strategies that may increase the use of this free service by diverse populations such as Spanish-speaking smokers.
Back to Cessation in Diverse Populations
Back to Increasing Diversity/Eliminating Disparities
Back to The 2002 National Conference on Tobacco or Health