New funding to explore expansion of access to smoking cessation interventions for priority populations

NOSM University and Lakehead University researcher and joint faculty member, Dr. Patricia Smith, is exploring options to expand access to evidence-based smoking cessation interventions.

The project has received $302,413 in funding from the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Healthy Canadians and Communities Fund (HCCF). First Response Mental Health will be partnering on the grant with matched in-kind funding and a customized version of their PeerConnect proactive peer support management app.

Smoking remains the single most preventable cause of premature death and disease in Canada, causing more than 40 diseases and other serious health outcomes, and is the leading cause of lung cancer.

“There are subgroups of the population that have disproportionately high rates of smoking, which puts them at increased risk for serious health conditions,” says Smith.

Age is a major factor: a high proportion of people under 45, especially males, smoke. Smoking is also higher among those with less than a high school education, people in the lowest income groups, members of LGBTQI2S+ communities, Indigenous peoples, people with mental health conditions and/or substance use disorders, and people in rural and remote settings.

Research shows that smoking cessation programs offering at least eight sessions and focusing on behaviour change strategies are more effective at helping people quit compared to trying to quit on one’s own, brief interventions, or smoking cessation medications.

However, “few people use behavioural programs, often because there is no access to programs or the services do not meet people’s needs,” says Smith. “This project will explore what people’s needs are and what services exist to match those needs.”

“Researchers at NOSM University are committed to changing health outcomes for Northern Ontarians,” says Dr. David Marsh, Associate Dean, Research, Innovation and International Relations.

Dr. Andrew P. Dean, Lakehead University’s Vice-President, Research and Innovation, congratulated Dr. Smith for receiving this funding and thanked PHAC for its continued support.
“This important work will allow the research and implementation of smoking cessation programs led by Dr. Smith to reach target populations where smoking rates are disproportionality higher than in the general population,” Dr. Dean said. “Prevention is the key to many diseases and perhaps no more so than with diseases related to smoking.”

This investment from the HCCF supports Canada’s Tobacco Strategy, which recognizes smoking as a key modifiable risk factor for chronic disease and aims to reduce tobacco use to five percent by the year 2035.