March 28, 2024

New Smartphone App on Tobacco Cessation

ACU has launched a new smartphone app that helps clinicians talk to patients about tobacco use. The app includes a six brief questions that clinicians can ask patients to measure their nicotine dependence. Release of the app coincides with the annual Great American Smokeout, a day when Americans are encouraged to make a plan to quit, or to plan in advance and quit smoking that day.

The ACU Low Health Literacy Nicotine Addition Test scores the patient’s responses to the six questions and provides quick links to resources, such as free counseling through telephone quitlines and patient assistance programs for access to free or reduced cost prescription aids for quitting.

According to a recent JAMA article, treating tobacco dependence is one of the most cost-effective actions in health care. ACU developed the app to assist clinicians working with underserved populations. The six questions are adapted for low literacy audiences from the Fagerstrom test for nicotine dependence.

ACU is committed to ending disparities in tobacco use and care. For more information about smoking and the underserved, visit TobaccoFree, the ACU website dedicated to tobacco cessation and the underserved.

Here’s how you can download the app:

iPhone Users

Preview the app here. To download and install it, just open the App Store icon on your phone and search for “ACU Tobacco”. The app is free to download and install.

Android phone users

Preview the app here, or download and install it from the GooglePlay/Android Market Store. The app is free to download and install.