T-Free: Tobacco Free Tompkins

The Quitline

The NYS Smokers’ Quitline is a proactive telephone service based at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo. Eligible callers who speak with a Quitline specialist can get a free starter supply of nicotine patches mailed to their residence. Follow-up calls from Quitline specialists also increase the chance that the smoker will quit. Prerecorded quit tips and topics are available to callers 24/7. The NYS Quitline is free to any NYS resident.

Campaign Overview

Dates: July 11–September 11, 2005 (total of 9 weeks)
Coverage: Tompkins County
Media: Direct mail, Newspaper, Pennysaver, Radio, Cable TV (see and hear ads)
Target: Adult smokers age 18–59 years, household income <$100,000. Also general public with an opportunity to influence smokers.
Message: Instill confidence in smoker’s ability to quit by suggesting that many in the community have been successful, by presenting an upbeat message of success, by drawing on support from others who want to see the smoker quit, and by providing the Quitline phone number as a low risk action step.

The campaign was developed at the Health Promotion Program, Tompkins County Health Department, to fulfill work goals for year 1 of the 5-year tobacco control grant held by the program.

Results

The impact of the ad campaign was dramatic. August calls to the Quitline from Tompkins County exchanges were 5 times the number during the month before the campaign, and almost 15 times the year before.

July–September, the Quitline logged 247 calls from Tompkins County. Of those, 98 individuals sought counseling by a Quitline specialist.

Total calls from Tompkins County exchanges:
• July–Aug–Sept 2004 = 33
• July–Aug–Sept 2005 = 247