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Telephones quitlines: evidence
and promise
Shu-Hong Zhu
Abstract
There has been a proliferation of tobacco quitlines in
recent years, encouraged by the agencies that fund public
health programs and by healthcare systems. This talk will
offer reasons for the fast adoption of quitlines from
the perspectives of smokers, service providers, and program
funders. It will present the experimental evidence for
the effects of telephone-based intervention. It will examine
the potential for using the large data sets of quitlines
to further our understanding of the quitting process and
to help design clinical interventions accordingly. Finally,
it will discuss how a centrally operated quitline might
be used to encourage general practitioners to be more
consistent about advising smokers to quit and to improve
the delivery of pharmacotherapies to smokers who want
to use them, and how it can play a significant role in
a population-based approach to smoking cessation.
Biography
Shu-Hong Zhu, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Family
and Preventive Medicine in the University of California,
San Diego School of Medicine. Dr. Zhu is Principal Investigator
of the California Smokers' Helpline, a statewide tobacco
cessation service recently recognized with an Award for
Program Excellence from the US Department of Health and
Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration. His research focuses on smoking behaviour
and cessation interventions, with a bent toward population-based
studies. He began his research with general adult populations
and has extended to adolescents, pregnant smokers, smokers
using pharmacotherapy, and smokers of low socio-economic
status. His work is noted for its quick application of
research findings to public health settings, and was honoured
with a University of California Wellness Lecture Award
from the California Wellness Foundation. A psychologist
with a strong background in research methodology, Dr.
Zhu has published on intervention as well as experimental
design. He consults widely with national and international
health and governmental agencies and has been a consultant
for the World Health Organization and the World Bank on
tobacco control initiatives.
Shu-Hong Zhu
Associate Professor, Family and Preventive Medicine,
University of California, San Diego, USA
szhu@ucsd.edu
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