Made a New Year’s Resolution to Stop Smoking? We Can Help! Enroll in the UArizona Be Smoke Free Study

Jan. 25, 2023

There’s no better way for smokers to ring in the New Year than to stop smoking. Contributing to more than 480,000 deaths annually in the United States, smoking remains a problem nationwide.  More than 8,000 Arizonans die each year from smoking, and thousands more live with a smoking-related illness.  UArizona College of Nursing professor and Associate Dean for Research, Judith Gordon, PhD, is leading an effort to help adults quit smoking.

“Tobacco use is one of the leading causes of disease and death in the United States,” Dr. Gordon said. “There are still millions of smokers in the US. If you can help those people stop smoking, you’re going to greatly improve not only their health and wellbeing but also the health and wellbeing of people who are exposed to their secondhand tobacco smoke. There’s enormous potential for improving public health.”

“There are still millions of smokers in the US. If you can help those people stop smoking, you’re going to greatly improve not only their health and wellbeing but also the health and wellbeing of people who are exposed to their secondhand tobacco smoke," ~ Judith Gordon, PhD

Dr. Gordon and her research team are currently seeking people who want to stop smoking to take part in an innovative study to test two approaches to help people quit. The Be Smoke Free study is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and seeks to test an integrative health approach to stopping smoking.

Judith Gordon, PhD

The Be Smoke Free program is provided by phone and text, with no in-person requirements. The program will provide six weekly sessions with a trained quit coach over the phone plus four weeks of nicotine patches or lozenges at no cost. Participants may also receive up to $100 for completing all study activities.  

“Because the Be Smoke Free program is delivered entirely remotely, there is tremendous potential to reach smokers wherever they are, whenever they’re ready,” said Dr. Gordon. “Plus, we provide robust support to smokers who are ready to quit for good.”

People interested in learning more about the Be Smoke Free program can visit the project website at: https://besmokefreestudy.org, email besmokefree@arizona.edu, or call 520-621-0458 for more information or to enroll in the program.