ABSTRACT
Sonia has been a smoker since she was 15. Now, at 45, she wants to quit. This isn’t the first time she has tried, but she has never succeeded. Last month, she asked her doctor for advice. Congratulating her, the doctor gave Sonia a self-help manual on quitting. After reading the manual at home, Sonia had questions, but reaching the doctor without an appointment was difficult. Sonia decided to try nicotine patches and called her state’s telephone quit line. Unfortunately, Sonia’s work and child care responsibilities kept getting in the way of her telephone counseling appointments. Sonia needed a quit service that was available when she could use it, did not feel judgmental, would tailor counseling to her circumstances, would keep her motivated, and enable her to ask people around her for support. Sonia’s sister told her about an Internet website that helped smokers quit and was available free from her health plan. It sounded like just what she needed.
