Available to Carrot’s self-insured enterprise and health plan clients for their employees and members, this new Pivot program will also be available to consumers later this year. The service features customized content, in-app lessons, personal coaching from tobacco cessation experts, and community support.
“The alarm around the dangers of vaping has reignited awareness of how tobacco addiction challenges so many people in the US everyday,” said Carrot President and CCO, Busy Burr. “Smoking cessation solutions historically consist of telephone coaching or in-person classes, and haven’t adapted to the needs of American consumers. We changed all that with Pivot for people who smoke cigarettes, and now have moved quickly to develop a digital solution for vaping as well, so people can get the help they need when they need it, right at their fingertips.”
Data from Pivot’s largest clinical trial has indicated that the smoking cessation program has led to an unprecedented success rate of 32%. The release suggested that employers spend an average of $3,000 per person per year in excess healthcare costs, totaling billions of dollars in annual revenues to the U.S. tobacco industry.
Recent UK Study Looks Into Cash Rewards for Smoking Cessation
Meanwhile, researchers from the University of East Anglia’s medical school, have recently found that smokers are more likely to quit smoking when offered financial rewards.
The study titled “Incentives for smoking cessation”, was published by the Cochrane Library, and contained results from 33 trials in eight countries, including 10 trials focusing on pregnant women. The researchers analysed data from over 21,000 participants who were trying to quit smoking.
The results indicated that smokers were 50% more likely to quit when receiving a financial reward than when they did not. The value of the rewards ranged from £35 to £912 in the form of cash payments, gift vouchers or deposits paid by participants that were later refunded. Interestingly, the research indicated that the amount of the cash reward did not really have an impact on their chance of quitting, and small rewards were sufficient.
The results should be considered when designing stop-smoking programs
The chief executive of the British Lung Foundation, Dr Penny Woods, said that these results should be considered when designing smoking cessation programs. “Offering financial incentives to help people quit smoking has been dismissed in the past, so it’s fantastic to see strong evidence that these innovative schemes work. Local authorities should consider this new research when designing comprehensive stop smoking services, as it could help target those in our communities who struggle the most to give up cigarettes.”
Read Further: MH
