Citation

Christofferson DE, Hamlett-Berry K, Augustson E. Am. J. Public Health 2015; 105(8): e7-e9.

Affiliation

Dana E. Christofferson and Kim Hamlett-Berry are with the Office of Public Health, Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs, Washington, DC. Erik Augustson is with the Tobacco Control Research Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Public Health Association)

DOI

10.2105/AJPH.2015.302690

PMID

26066949

Abstract

Automated mobile health (mHealth) programs deliver effective smoking cessation interventions through text message platforms. Smoking is an independent risk factor for suicide, so the Department of Veterans Affairs incorporated information about the Veterans Crisis Line into its SmokefreeVET smoking cessation text messaging program. Almost 7% of all SmokefreeVET enrollees have accessed this information. Because of the reach and automated nature of this and similar programs, we recommend including a referral to a suicide prevention hotline for all smoking cessation mHealth interventions. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print June 11, 2015: e1-e3. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2015.302690).

Language: en