Tobacco quitlines play a vital role in helping people quit using commercial tobacco. However, reaching and engaging rural populations remains a challenge for quitlines. The unique challenges involved in reaching and connecting with rural communities impact outreach efforts, requiring quitlines to identify and implement innovative solutions.
The University of Colorado’s Behavioral Health & Wellness Program developed the National Jewish Health Project – Rural Quitline Evaluation for National Jewish Health (NJH) to investigate the experiences of rural tobacco quitline users. This report presents evaluation findings to assist NJH and state quitline funders in better understanding the barriers and facilitators to engaging and sustaining rural tobacco users in quitline services.
This comprehensive report includes a literature review of existing research, a survey of current quitline users, the perspectives of eleven national experts and the findings from focus groups of individuals living in rural areas. The results from this evaluation support recommendations which may increase the impact of quitlines within rural populations.
The primary recommendations from the report:
- Promote awareness of and referrals to the quitline among health care providers
- Increase trust, understanding and transparency surrounding the quitline
- Embed the quitline within the health neighborhood concept
- Integrate the quitline into state and local-level tobacco policy initiatives
- Leverage existing technologies and explore new technologies
- Tailor quitline services to the individual
- Refine marketing approaches for rural populations
View the webinar on the Rural Quitline Evaluation Project findings
National Jewish Health is the leading respiratory hospital in the nation. Founded 121 years ago as a nonprofit hospital, National Jewish Health today is dedicated exclusively to groundbreaking medical research and treatment of patients with respiratory, cardiac, immune and related disorders.
The Behavioral Health and Wellness Program (BHWP) is part of the University of Colorado School of Medicine. BHWP specializes in tobacco cessation treatment, training, and technical assistance. BHWP works with communities, healthcare facilities, and public health and governmental agencies to promote health and wellness in priority populations and offers training and consultation to healthcare providers, administrators, and peer advocates.