Effectiveness of impersonal versus interpersonal methods to recruit employees into a worksite quit smoking program

One of the first salient issues a worksite quit smoking program must face is how to motivate employees to enroll and participate. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of impersonal versus interpersonal recruitment strategies used by an ongoing worksite quit smoking program. One hundred and nineteen smokers who stated on a questionnaire that they would be either "strongly yes" or "yes" interested in participating in a quit smoking program were randomized into two groups. One group was sent letters by employee mail from the director of the quit smoking program. This letter briefly described the program and invited employees to participate. The other group received a personal phone call from the staff health educator inviting them to participate. Results indicate that of the 46 individuals randomly assigned to Group 1 who were sent letters, none responded to the invitation; while 37 of the 44 employees who received a personal phone call, 19 scheduled an appointment, 7 kept their appointments. These results indicate the possible increased effectiveness of an impersonal versus interpersonal communications in recruiting full-time smoking employees.