STOMP (STop smoking Over Mobile Phones)
Smoking is the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death. Among teens worldwide (aged 13 to 15), about one in five smokes, and evidence shows that around 50% of those who start smoking in adolescent years go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years.
Healthphone can help stop this cycle. STOMP, our mobile smoking cessation point of care solution, aids participants who want to quit smoking by automatically sending a series of intervention text messages to their mobile phones.
Enables Intervention via Mobile Phones
STOMP offers a new way to help smokers quit, with the advantage of being relatively inexpensive, personalized, and age appropriate. It enables health authorities and government agencies world-wide to focus on preventable disease reduction such as smoking cessation by offering various intervention techniques to participants’ mobile phones.
Personalized Cessation Support– Relevant messages tailored to the target participants
- Quit Tips– Consistent and helpful reminders of overall goal to quit smoking
- General Interest Messages—General facts that help reinforce smoking cessation
- Craving Support– Participants craving a cigarette can send a message to a specific number and instantly receive a text message on beating cravings
- Polls– As a way of adding distraction and interest, regular polls are held where participants can text their answers and get results
- Message Blackouts– Upon enrolment, the participant can designate one specific period per day during which the application will not send text messages
Provides Consistent Smoking Cessation Support
With Healthphone’s STOMP point of care solution, participants simply sign up for the service by texting Join or a designated variation to the nominated short code, visiting the provider’s website or calling a toll free number. Participants choose text messages tailored to their demographic profile and culture, such as tips on quitting or facts about smoking, to help reinforce quitting.
- When craving a cigarette, participants can send a message to a specified number to instantly receive a text message on beating cravings
- The Slip Up function applies when participants have a cigarette but haven’t started smoking again
- The Relapse Program is a 4 week intensive program which participants can go on if they’ve start smoking again but still want to try to quit
Empowers Providers to Facilitate Better Health
There are five key delivery components of the STOMP service. These can be provided by one organization or shared between several organizations in partnership to facilitate better health for participants.
- Content- the text messages require customization for specific markets. This includes both smoking cessation expertise and messaging language expertise relevant to that target market.
- SMS Gateway- Gateway services are usually provided by a Healthphone partner. The Gateway receives text messages from participants and then interacts with the STOMP application and vice versa.
- Application Hosting - Healthphone’s partner hosts the STOMP application.
- Enrollment & Administration Websites - the program supports a web interface for administration, registration and dissemination of information.
- Text Communication Network– Other telecommunications partners may provide the interface with the gateway service that allows text messages to be sent to their customers.
Proven to Double the Success Rate for Smoking Cessation
Healthphone’s STOMP point of care solution was developed by the Clinical Trials Research Unit (CTRU) at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. It was tested in a randomized-controlled trial of over 1700 participants throughout New Zealand, which found the intervention to show a two-fold increase in self-reported quit rates at six weeks (28%compared to 13%). The results were consistent across subgroups defined by age, sex, income level and geographic location.
Download Healthphone CEO Debbi Gillotti's presentation on STOMP from Stanford University's Texting for Health Conference, 29 February 2008.