The Smokefree Partners: 21 Days to Freedom combined online video, text, and interactive tools to promote the effective use of pharmacological aids (PA) - nicotine replacement products and bupropion (Zyban®) - and provide cognitive-behavioral support for users as they attempted to stop smoking. Smoking cessation content was based on the U.S. Surgeon General's Clinical Guidelines, Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, 2008 update. Presentation of some of the content (e.g., gender of the narrator, PA recommendations) was tailored to the user on demographic and smoking history information provided during registration and within the introductory session.
Two critical features provided social support and accountability. First, each user was assigned a "live" smoking cessation coach to provide support via individually tailored phone or email contacts (contact preference specified by the user). Users also received automated email reminders and prompts from the program. Second, a bulletin board/forum feature was added to promote social support among users.
The Smokefree Partners intervention was a multi-session intervention in which users experienced a controlled and scheduled exposure to 21 discrete web site sessions. The program required users to wait at least 10 hours between sessions (i.e., login was "locked" until 10 hours had passed after a user's previous Web site session). Carefully timed and tailored coaching messages provided cessation tips and prompted users to return to the web site to view the next session.
The program was evaluated online in a randomized clinical trial of smokers recruited through major worksites across the United States. The aim of the evaluation was to determine if a theoretically based, online smoking cessation program that included message tailoring and interactivity combined with the live personal support of a coach would result in improved quit rates when compared to a wait-list control condition.