Wilford Hall officials to participate in smoking cessation study

  • Published
  • By Karen LeRoy
  • 59th Mental Health Squadron
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) --  Air Force smokers who want to kick the habit may benefit from a smoking cessation study and program that will be conducted from Wilford Hall Medical Center here.

The National Institutes of Health recently awarded a $3.6 million grant to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis to conduct the treatment outcome study. 

Dr. Bob Klesges, a researcher at UT in Memphis, will serve as the principal investigator for the study at Wilford Hall, targeting active-duty Air Force members and reservists.

The study will provide two types of Quit Lines that will provide smoking cessation treatment over the telephone.

"Many programs that work for civilians don't work well for the military," said Maj. Robert Vanececk, a clinical health psychology fellow at Wilford Hall who will serve as the military liaison officer for the study.

"Normal tobacco cessation classes are held once a week. The Quit Line will provide the same information over the phone, rather than coming in. This might be a better treatment option for military members because they often work long hours or work shifts that don't allow participation in more traditional tobacco cessation programs. With the Quit Line, an Airman can call from work, from home or from Iraq and still maintain continuity of treatment," he said.

Of the two types of quit lines, one will be counselor initiated and the other will be self-paced.

With the counselor initiated version, each time the patient calls the counselor will aggressively work to schedule the next appointment. When patients call the self-paced version it will be up to them to make use of the resources and schedule future appointments.

Nicotine replacement therapy will be given free of charge in both programs and there are no classes to attend.

The study team can potentially enroll active duty and reservists from other branches of service if more participants are needed.

For more information, call 877-SAMMC-11 or visit www.sammcquitline.org. 

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