Early Evidence of Success for a National Asian Smokers’ Quitline

Posted on by

 

Almost 70% of all smokers say they want to quit. Many find help through telephone quitlines, which are shown to increase quit rates and have broad reach with diverse populations.

To address a gap in services to the Asian-American population, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2012 funded the Asian Smokers’ Quitline (ASQ); expanding a successful California program to all states. The ASQ provided counseling by trained native speakers in Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese.

A 2-year study of calls to the ASQ shows early evidence of success: there were more than 5,400 callers from 48 states and the District of Columbia seeking help to quit smoking. About 85% of tobacco users who called enrolled in counseling, completing an average of 4 sessions. This compares favorably with other state-based quitlines which report an average of 2.4 to 2.9 counseling sessions per caller. The study’s results are consistent with previous findings that Asian-language smokers are willing to use services from a culturally-tailored, in-language quitline and participate in the counseling program once enrolled.

For those wanting help quitting smoking, the ASQ numbers are, for Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), 1-800-838-8917; for Vietnamese, 1-800-778-8440; and for Korean, 1-800-556-5564. Smokers can receive free resources and support to help them quit in English and Spanish by calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669).

To read the study mentioned in this post, visit PCD’s homepage.

 
By Darryl Konter, MS
Health Communications Specialist
McNeal Professional Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office on Smoking and Health
 
Posted on by

Post a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All comments posted become a part of the public domain, and users are responsible for their comments. This is a moderated site and your comments will be reviewed before they are posted. Read more about our comment policy »

Page last reviewed: June 4, 2015
Page last updated: June 4, 2015