DENVER – Tobacco use is responsible for over 400,000 premature deaths annually in the United States, making it the most important cause of preventable death. In an effort to help raise public awareness about this concern, The Colorado Prevention Center (CPC) and Denver Health have created a non-traditional educational program that may help reduce these numbers.

CPC has developed an interactive kiosk designed to educate smokers about the quitting process and to encourage smokers to get help, either by asking their doctor, getting into group counseling, or through Colorado’s new Quit Line, 1-800-639-QUIT. The program, called eQuit, provides cessation counseling and helps facilitate referrals to existing counseling programs.

The first eQuit kiosk has been placed in the main lobby of Denver Health Medical Center in Denver. By June 1, the same program will be available on the Internet at www.equit.org.

"We hope the eQuit kiosk will increase the number of smokers who want to make a quit attempt and, as a result, increase the number of referrals to counseling programs such as the Quit Line," said Tom MacKenzie, MD, director of Tobacco Prevention Programs at the CPC and associate director of internal medicine at Denver Health. "CPC and Denver Health have had experience in the design of interactive computer surveys and educational tools. We’ve found that people easily adapt to interaction by computer and that they provide honest and accurate information."

Traditional methods of community-based tobacco education have not capitalized on the growth of web-based and interactive computer technology, MacKenzie said. At the same time, mounting data suggest that people are comfortable with using computer technology in public settings to answer surveys and to learn about health behaviors and health promotion programs.

The kiosks have been designed for both the Web and for free standing computer modules that are tailored to the age, language (English or Spanish) and readiness to quit of the user. The modules collect information from smokers about their behavior, attitudes and opinions around tobacco use and quitting. The information will then be used to deliver tailored video messages about ways to change behavior, educate users about pharmacologic therapy and existing programs, and advertise the use of the statewide Quit Line.

Other kiosks are being design for placement in high volume locations, such as motor vehicle departments, community health centers, private physician offices and government offices, said MacKenzie.

As CPC develops the modules and tests their feasibility in clinical setting and on the Internet, it will design a clinical trial to test the efficacy of the modules on outcomes such as program referral rates and provider documentation and counseling. Kiosks will be used to increase discussion of tobacco use with the patient’s provider and to increase referrals to existing local counseling programs.

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Contact:
Johanna Ladis - Denver Health phone 303-436-6606
Laurel Petralia - Colorado Prevention Center phone 303-860-9900