Learn to Quit (LTQ), an evidence-based smoking cessation app tailored to the needs of individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) that demonstrated promising smoking cessation outcomes in a recent pilot randomized controlled trial (R00 DA037276). In parallel, several trials demonstrated that widely available social media platforms can be effectively utilized to enhance the effects of standard of care evidence-based smoking cessation treatments. Both approaches capitalize on highly scalable digital technologies, and are therefore likely to have population level impact. Drawing from these two separate programs of research, the central premise of this proposal is that LTQ, a stand-alone smoking cessation app tailored to patients with SMI, can be enhanced with peer-support delivered on social media. Therefore, this proposal seeks to develop and asses the acceptability and feasibility of LTQ-Connect -- the integration of the evidence-based smoking cessation app, LTQ, with social support delivered via social media -- to boost the efficacy and community reach of digital therapeutics tailored for patients with SMI. To achieve this goal, we will:~(1) determine the ideal design requirements of an LTQ-Connect integration among smokers with SMI, and (2) investigate the feasibility of LTQ-Connect in a single group pilot trial. Both interventions will be combined with nicotine replacement therapy, a safe and widely available medication.
This is a pilot randomized clinical trial testing an implementation intervention to support delivery of a smoking cessation app tailored to the needs of those individuals with SMI who at community mental health programs.