Over 7 million Americans use snuff or chewing tobacco daily, but there are few programs to assist them in quitting this addiction. The proposed project will develop, produce, and evaluate an interactive cessation program to help smokeless tobacco (ST) users quit. The Chewer's Choice(TM) interactive cessation program will provide individualized quitting support through both a touchscreen kiosk and in a desktop computer. Chewer's Choice(TM) will assess the user's dependence and stage of readiness, motivate them to quit, and provide them with personalized quitting advice tailored to their use profiles and choices they made throughout the program. During Phase I, a prototype program was developed and evaluated. Results obtained demonstrated the efficacy of this interactive cessation program. The goal of Phase II is to develop a functional, full-featured touchscreen version of the Chewer's Choice(TM) prototype created in Phase I. We will evaluate the program in a randomized trial with adult ST users in clinic, dental, and worksite settings. Based on this evaluation we will make final changes to the program, create a touchscreen kiosk version, and a desktop version (both MacOS and Windows platforms) for commercial release with associated manuals.
This research will develop interactive cessation programs using both touchscreen and CD-ROM technology for the estimated 15 million Americans who use smokeless tobacco (snuff or chewing tobacco). The interactive cessation products will have broad appeal to dental and medical settings, worksite settings, and schools who can provide this individualized program for tobacco users. Desktop versions will also provide-home users and professionals access to this effective program.
