Pilot Mobile Smoking Cessation Program Reaches Underserved — Increases Access

This paper describes a pilot mobile smoking cessation programthat occurred between 2007 and 2009 across two suburban New Yorkcounties, serving 1,263 individuals. The program was designed andcarried out with three objectives: (a) to assess and reduce a potential service disparity faced by adult smokers in heavily disadvantaged communities—including people marginalized by homelessness, economic distress, lack of transportation, alcoholism / drug addiction, mental illness, and/or HIV; (b) to use evidence-based methods to promote smoking cessation and reduction among such adults in 14 specific lowincome Long Island, NY areas; (c) to evaluate the impact and effectiveness of the program’s mobile service modality. Results of this pilot program show that meaningful percentages of the target population had: (1) never encountered a smoking cessation message prior to engagement with thismobile program (38%); (2) a demonstrated desire to quit smoking despite the heightened stresses in their lives that other people don’t face, and (3) a demonstrated ability to quit or reduce smoking when given help in a form (including mobile service) that works for them. This paper concludes that Stakeholders and Policymakers in this and/or similar jurisdications would benefit from uniting to fund and design an extended mobile service delivery and data-gathering project that serves a greater number of at-risk/ multi-disadvantaged people, while seeking to quantify the financialsavings to the community that results from helping disadvantaged people to: (1) quit smoking and (2) become linked to affordable doctors for regular check-ups. This pilot program demonstrated a positive social justice impact and suggests a possible parallel positive financial impact on the community worthy of exploration.