Using direct mail to prompt smokers to call a quitline
Richard J O'Connor1, Shannon M Carlin-Menter, Paula B Celestino
1Department of Health Behavior, Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, in Buffalo, New York, USA. Richard.Oconnor@roswellpark.org
Health Promotion Practice
|March 1, 2008
Summary
A direct mail campaign successfully increased calls to the New York State Smokers' Quitline by 36%. This strategy effectively promoted smoking cessation services and nicotine patch requests.
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Health Communication
Background:
- Telephone quitlines offer effective smoking cessation support.
- Low utilization rates limit the reach of quitline services.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of an unsolicited direct mail campaign in increasing calls to the New York State Smokers' Quitline.
- To assess the impact of direct mail on quitline utilization and requests for nicotine replacement therapy.
Main Methods:
- A direct mail campaign sent two distinct postcards to 77,527 smoker households.
- Geographically linked quitline call data were analyzed for the 15 days before and after each mailing.
- Response rates and nicotine patch request patterns were compared between mailed and unmailed periods.
Main Results:
- The postcard campaign resulted in a 36% increase in quitline call volume.
- No significant difference in effectiveness was observed between the two postcard messaging strategies.
- Callers responding to the mailing were more likely to request nicotine patches (91% vs. 82%, p < .001).
Conclusions:
- Direct mail is a viable and effective promotional tool for increasing quitline call volume.
- Targeted direct mail campaigns can enhance engagement with smoking cessation resources.
- The campaign demonstrated a positive impact on both service utilization and medication requests for smoking cessation.
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