By Nathan K Cobb1,2,3,4, MD; Amanda L Graham1,3, PhD;
M Justin Byron4, MHS; David B Abrams1,3,4, PhD; Workshop Participants5
1Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies, American
Legacy Foundation, Washington, DC, United States
2Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care, Department of Medicine, Georgetown
University Medical Center, Washington, DC, United States
3Department of Oncology, Georgetown University Medical Center / Lombardi
Comprehensive Cancer Center, Washington, DC, United States
4Department of Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, United States
5see acknowledgements
Corresponding Author:
Nathan K Cobb, MD
Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies
American Legacy Foundation
1724 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC, 20036
United States
Phone: 1 202 454 5745
Fax: 1 202 454 5785
Email: ncobb [at] legacyforhealth.org
ABSTRACT
Background: Smoking remains one of the most pressing public health problem
s in the United States and internationally. The concurrent evolution of the Internet,
social network science, and online communities offers a potential target for high-
yield interventions capable of shifting population-level smoking rates and
substantially improving public health.
Objective: Our objective was to convene leading practitioners in relevant disciplines
to develop the core of a strategic research agenda on online social networks and
their use for smoking cessation, with implications for other health behaviors.
Methods: We conducted a 100-person, 2-day, multidisciplinary workshop in
Washington, DC, USA. Participants worked in small groups to formulate research
questions that could move the field forward. Discussions and resulting questions
were synthesized by the workshop planning committee.
Results: We considered 34 questions in four categories (advancing theory,
understanding fundamental mechanisms, intervention approaches, and
evaluation) to be the most pressing.
Conclusions: Online social networks might facilitate smoking cessation in
several ways. Identifying new theories, translating these into functional
interventions, and evaluating the results will require a concerted transdisciplinary
effort. This report presents a series of research questions to assist researchers,
developers, and funders in the process of efficiently moving this field forward.
(J Med Internet Res 2011;13(4):e119)
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