According to a new study that was released recently encouraging texts could make it easier for you to quit smoking. The study was performed by researchers at Miriam Hospital’s Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine in Providence, R.I. The study results showed that when smokers received positive texts of encouragement with messages like Be Strong or You Can Do It they were more likely to successfully quit smoking. Researcher and co-author Lori Scott-Sheldon, Ph.D. explained “Tobacco use is one of the leading preventable global health problems, and text messaging has the promise to reach a wider audience with minimal costs and fewer resources. The evidence provides unequivocal support for the efficacy of text messaging interventions to reduce smoking behavior, but more research is needed to understand for whom they work, under what conditions, and why.”
The study shows that encouraging texts could help you quit smoking, and there are also other possibilities as well. Smoking tobacco is a form of substance abuse, just like an addiction to alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs. If this model of therapy works for tobacco use it could possibly work with other forms of substance abuse as well. In the USA tobacco smoking is the number one preventable cause of death, so even if the model only works with tobacco there is still a very large market that could benefit. According to co-author Bock “Text messaging enjoys near-market saturation and is a widely preferred method of communication with deep penetration across diverse groups. Wide availability of an attractive and effective smoking cessation program can exert a powerful, sustained impact on public health.”
