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MGH researcher receives $4 million
grant for smoking cessation initiative
Program will provide support,
services to parents through pediatric practices
BOSTON - October 18, 2007 - A new research initiative could
help millions of children grow up in smoke-free homes, help millions
of adults quit smoking, and ultimately, save hundreds of thousands
of U.S. lives. Jonathan Winickoff, M.D., M.P.H., of the MassGeneral
Hospital for Children, has been awarded $4 million from the
National Institute of Health for a national effectiveness trial
to help protect children from second hand smoke by encouraging parents
to quit.
"We will evaluate a previously developed, pilot tested, and
theoretically based tobacco-control strategy aimed at helping parents
quit smoking and eliminate child exposure to second hand tobacco
smoke and its associated diseases," says Winickoff, who works
at the MGH
Center for Child and Adolescent Health Policy.
Winickoff's team realized that, while much research has focused
on smoking cessation initiatives in the adult clinical setting,
parents may not have their own primary care clinicians. Even parents
with their own physician often visit their child's doctor more frequently
than their own. Based on this knowledge, the team developed an intervention
to address parental smoking in the pediatric setting, employing
smoking cessation techniques including counseling, proactive referral
to regional and national "quit lines," and pharmacologic
management of tobacco dependence.
Previous studies from Winickoff's group have indicated that quitting
smoking adds an average of seven years to a parent's life, improves
the health of the spouse, eliminates most of a child's exposure
to second hand smoke, reduces poor pregnancy outcomes, eliminates
the greatest cause of house fire mortality, and improves the family's
financial resources.
"This trial may help the nation take a family-centered approach
to tobacco control, refocusing efforts on the young adults and children
who will influence and form a future, healthier, non-smoking U.S.
population," says Winickoff.
The trial is set to start in 2008 and will recruit 50 practices
from the American Academy of Pediatrics's Pediatric Research in
Office Settings (PROS) practice-based research network. There are
more than 700 PROS practices in the country, which provide care
to 3 million or 5 percent of the nation's children. The findings
from this study should be applicable to most pediatric practices.
If you think your pediatrician might be interested in this research,
he or she can learn about the Pediatric Research in Office Settings
(PROS) network at http://www.aap.org/
PROS/abtpros.htm. If you yourself work in a pediatric practice
and are interested in joining PROS, information on how to join can
be found at http://www.aap.org/PROS/hotojoin.htm.
For more information on smoking cessation in pediatric offices,
visit www.ceasetobacco.org.
Founded in 1811, the Massachusetts General Hospital is the third
oldest general hospital in the United States and the oldest and
largest in New England. The 900-bed medical center offers sophisticated
diagnostic and therapeutic care in virtually every specialty and
subspecialty of medicine and surgery. Each year the MGH admits more
than 46,000 inpatients and handles nearly 1.5 million outpatient
visits at its main campus and health centers. Its Emergency Department
records nearly 80,000 visits annually. The surgical staff performs
more than 35,000 operations and the MGH Vincent Obstetrics Service
delivers more than 3,500 babies each year. The MGH conducts the
largest hospital-based research program in the country, with an
annual research budget of more than $500 million. It is the oldest
and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School, where nearly
all MGH staff physicians serve on the faculty. The MGH is consistently
ranked among the nation's top hospitals by US News and World
Report.
Media Contacts: Valerie
Wencis, MGH Public Affairs
Physician Referral Service: 1-800-388-4644
Information about Clinical Trials
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