Are you ready to take the first step in freeing yourself from cigarettes? If you are a Tricare beneficiary that is ready to quit smoking, a new program for the Department of Defense community could be just what you need to help you quit for good. The Freedom Smoking Quitline is a research study funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health and co-sponsored by the United States Air Force and the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
The study is interested in enrolling Tricare beneficiaries motivated to quit smoking in order to inform smoking cessation services for the military community. If selected, you will receive four 30-minute telephone-counseling sessions with a smoking cessation counselor and eight weeks of free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) mailed to your home. If after three months, you are still smoking, you will be eligible to receive additional counseling treatment and nicotine patches or gum. During a final telephone survey, about 12 months later, they will ask you some questions about your smoking status and level of satisfaction with the program. Best of all, your participation and the NRT are 100% free.
To be eligible to participate in the study you must meet the following requirements:
- In the past 12 months, you have smoked five or more cigarettes a day.
- 18 years or older.
- Active Duty, Retirees, and Dependents (DoD Tricare Beneficiaries).
- Have access to a telephone.
- Interested in attempting to quit smoking within the next 30 days.
- Live in the continental United States, Alaska or Hawaii.
- Able and willing to use Nicotine Replacement Therapy (nicotine patch or nicotine gum).
- Never been diagnosed with an unstable heart condition
- Not currently pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Willing to discontinue any medication you are currently taking that is for the purpose of smoking cessation, (such as nicotine replacement therapy or medications such as Wellbutrin or Chantix).
If you are interested in participating in the Freedom Smoking Quitline program, please call 1-844-I-AM-FREE (1-844-426-3733) toll free, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am -5:00 pm CDT. The Quitline counselor will require about 30 minutes of your time to determine whether you are eligible for the study and get you enrolled. You can also find more information about the Freedom Smoking Quitline Research Study online. We want you to quit for good and hope that we can help you with that goal!
