Illinois: an innovative project to help disadvantaged populations quit smoking

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago are launching a major project with the main objective of developing support for smoking cessation for disadvantaged populations severely affected by smoking.

A group of researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has received more than $3.3 million to conduct a study within a network of health centers on smoking among disadvantaged populations and on interventions and devices – including digital ones – to help them quit smoking that are specifically intended for them.

UIC states in a news release published on November 17, 2020 that “The study aims to demonstrate the feasibility, success and cost-effectiveness of smoking cessation interventions […] in a network of federally qualified health centers […] called Mile Square Health Center.”

Disadvantaged areas are particularly affected by smoking

Projects aimed at providing better support for smoking cessation in disadvantaged areas appear particularly relevant, since they are the most affected and severely affected by smoking.

Indeed, as Professor Phoenix Matthews, one of the academics in charge of this research, points out, "Smoking rates are extremely high in low-income and minority communities, due to the tobacco industry's targeted marketing to ethnic minority groups, the high density of tobacco retailers in these neighborhoods, low access to smoking cessation treatments, high stress rates in low-income populations, and structural oppression." He adds that, "Given these risk factors, innovative strategies are needed to provide cost-effective treatments to those most at risk of smoking-related morbidity and mortality."

UIC researchers want to work closely with users and stakeholders at Mile Square Health Center, which sees many patients from disadvantaged backgrounds, to come up with new strategies that are tailored to this context, as Matthews explains: “We will involve community stakeholders throughout the project, including convening an advisory board and holding focus groups and one-on-one interviews. Community stakeholder engagement will help us ensure that we are meeting the needs of the Mile Square community.”

Expanding smoking cessation program for Mile Square patients

In addition, the UIC project intends to expand Mi Quit CARE, a free smoking cessation program for Mile Square users funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute1 that has been running for five years across all Mile Square Health Centre locations. Through this program, the researchers hope to expand access to smoking cessation information and advice to “patients with low health literacy.”

Matthews says the UIC research aims to see the Mi Quit CARE program help 40,000 Mile Square smokers quit smoking each year once the new strategies are implemented. The researchers also hope that their experimental research at Mile Square Health Center can serve as a model for other initiatives across the United States.