# Preliminary Studies on Implementation of Smoking Cessation Interventions for Low-Income Women

> **NIH NIH P20** · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER · 2024 · $207,857

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: PROJECT 4 (SCHEUERMANN)
Smoking is one of the leading causes of mortality in the United States. Pregnant women who smoke expose
themselves and their babies to a myriad of known carcinogens and are at risk for poor pregnancy outcomes.
Currently, smoking rates among pregnant women are 8% with even higher smoking prevalence among low-
income women. Twelve percent of pregnant women enrolled in The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program
for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) smoke. Low-income pregnant women are also less likely to quit. Even
though guidelines recommend treating tobacco use among pregnant women, most pregnant smokers do not
receive smoking cessation counseling and only one in 10 receive referrals to cessation services or follow-up
care. WIC clinics are an ideal venue for initiating smoking cessation interventions for pregnant women. WIC
serves approximately 40% of pregnant women and clinics have existing data systems to routinely document
tobacco use. Effective smoking cessation interventions have been developed for pregnant women but quit
rates are modest. Only a few intervention studies have focused on pregnant women enrolled in WIC, and one
achieved significant, biochemically verified quit rates. Efforts to implement smoking cessation interventions
programs in WIC show low sustainment and barriers such as time constraints among WIC staff and lack of
referral resources and educational materials. The goal of this research is to develop and evaluate a novel
smoking cessation intervention for initiation in WIC clinics that enhances text message cessation support with
remotely delivered incentives. Developing an effective and scalable intervention for the WIC context could
improve health equity for low-income women. We will use implementation science in planning our intervention
by conducting formative studies to ensure feasibility and acceptability among WIC stakeholders. First, we will
conduct interviews to determine end-user perspectives on the intervention and implementation strategies and
identify adaptations to the intervention prior to implementation, using the FRAME framework to catalogue
adaptations. In Aim 1, we will interview 15 pregnant current and recent smokers including both English and
Spanish-speaking women enrolled in WIC. In Aim 2, we will conduct 12- 15 interviews with WIC staff key
informants to elicit suggestions and feedback for modifications to the intervention and implementation plan.
Based on stakeholder input (Aims 1 and 2), we will adapt our intervention and finalize our implementation plan
and toolkit for our pilot trial (Aim 3). In our pilot trial we will determine the feasibility, acceptability, and
preliminary effectiveness of the text message + incentives intervention with a sample of 50 pregnant smokers
enrolled in WIC. We will employ a randomized controlled trial design with a text-message only control. This
research program will impact the field by developing a scalable interv...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10927195
- **Project number:** 5P20GM139733-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Taneisha Shani Scheuermann
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $207,857
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-11 → 2028-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10927195

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10927195, Preliminary Studies on Implementation of Smoking Cessation Interventions for Low-Income Women (5P20GM139733-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10927195. Licensed CC0.

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