Louisiana Group Launches Quit Vaping Phone Tool

The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, in partnership with Well-Ahead Louisiana launched ‘Live Vape Free,’ a tool aimed at helping teens quit vaping via their phones.

Diane Caruana

July 27, 2022

The Cessation Manager at Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living, Chrishelle Stipe, said that given the increase in teen vaping, they are bringing the quit vaping tool to phones, where teens spend most of their time these days. “Since 2015 the use of e-cigarettes among youth has increased and had actually tripled among Louisiana youth.”

Stripe explained that the phone tool aims to engage teens via a number of online activities. “They receive text messages from a quit coach, they’re engaged in easy powerful activities, video quizzes, self-assessments helping them to assess when and why they actually vape or use e-cigarettes.”

Anyone who is between 13 and 17-years-old can use the Live Vape Free tool by texting “VAPEFREE” to 873373 and answer a few questions. This will give access to a quit coach who can provide guidance along a personalized quitting journey. “First, really identify why you need to quit,” said Stipe. “Tips and strategies and figuring out what your triggers are.”

Smoking cessation application

Meanwhile, a 2021 study published in Jama Network, analysed whether a smartphone application based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is more effective for smoking cessation. A randomized clinical trial of 2415 adult smokers with a 12-month follow-up and high retention, were divided into 2 groups. One group was assigned an ACT-based smoking cessation application, iCanQuit, while the second group was assigned QuitGuide, a National Cancer Institute smoking cessation application based on US clinical practice guidelines (USCPG).

The iCanQuit app aims to teach acceptance of smoking triggers, while the QuitGuide app is based on avoiding triggers.

Smartphone applications for smoking cessation are believed to address barriers to accessing traditional treatments, yet there is limited evidence for their efficacy. The iCanQuit app aims to teach acceptance of smoking triggers, while the QuitGuide app is based on avoiding triggers. This study found that the former, iCanQuit, was more effective, and users had 1.49 times higher odds of quitting smoking in comparison to the other group.

“This trial provides evidence that, compared with a USCPG-based smartphone application, an ACT-based smartphone application was more efficacious for quitting cigarette smoking and thus can be an impactful treatment option,” concluded the researchers.