Impact of direct mail as a method to recruit smoking mothers into a "quit and win" contest.
In the early 1980s the concept of a Quit and Win (Q&W) contest was developed in the Minnesota Heart Health Program (MHHP) as a population-based smoking cessation strategy. The Q&W model has since spread and been applied in many countries around the world. Different communication strategies have been applied for recruiting participants for Q&W. In the Q&W contest in 1995 in Stockholm County, Sweden, direct mail was used as the main recruitment strategy among daily smoking mothers with children aged 0-6 years. Two additional strategies were employed to recruit participants, that is, ads in a local newspaper and personal communication. The target group was estimated to be approximately 4,300 women. In total 5.5% of the target group was recruited, and of those, 4.3% were recruited by direct mail. After 12 months, 14.3% of the women were sustained smoke-free, and the corresponding percentage for those women who were recruited by direct mail was 15.5%. In comparison with several other Q&W contests employing other strategies, the direct-mail technique seems not only to have been successful in recruiting participants, but also in aiding remained sustained smoke-free women after 12 months. To optimize recruitment for Q&W contests, a combination of recruiting strategies should be applied.
Tillgren
P
P
Unit of Social Medicine, Stockholm County Council, Norrbacka, Stockholm, Sweden. Per.Tillgren@phs.ki.se
Eriksson
L
L
Guldbrandsson
K
K
Spiik
M
M
D000328:Adult; D015709:Correspondence as Topic; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009042:Motivation; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D018579:Patient Selection; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011177:Postal Service; D016540:Smoking Cessation / Q000379:methods*; D013548:Sweden