Using the Web and IVR to Manage Smoking Relapse in Primary Care

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Primary care providers provide cessation assistance to their tobacco-using patients, but many times fail to provide appropriate follow-up services. The purpose of this project is to develop and test the feasibility of an interactive voice response medication reminder system (IVR) to manage quitting and relapse in tobacco users attempting to quit in primary care settings. The IVR system will consist of two components: (1) an IVR telephone system that makes proactive calls to patients throughout their cessation attempt to monitor progress and provide relapse prevention messages; and (2) a web- based interface for health professionals to set up the appropriate relapse management system (e.g., frequency and duration of management program) and obtain feedback on patient progress or difficulties. Specific aims for Phase I of our project include: 1.) Develop an interactive voice- recognition telephone interventions prototype software program targeting tobacco users trying to quit in primary medical care settings. 2.) Develop a web-based interface to be used by health professionals to set up the type of follow-up assessment, medication adherence / side effect monitoring, and tailored relapse prevention messages. 3.) Perform iterative program testing and debugging of the prototype program. 4.) Assess the feasibility of the prototype in a small group of physicians. 5.) Assess the feasibility of the prototype in a small feasibility trial. 6.) Develop a set of proposed modifications for a Phase II version of the program. Further development of the system will occur in Phase II, where we hope to add further assessment and tailoring messages. Tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. More research and products are needed to identify and provide assistance to those tobacco users who wish to quit. The interactive voice recognition software and web tool described in this application can support such efforts.