Increasing Tobacco Use Cessation: Mass Media Education—Cessation Series

Task Force Finding*

Cessation series are mass media interventions using recurring instructional segments to recruit, inform, and motivate tobacco product users to initiate and to maintain cessation efforts. Cessation series can be coordinated with pre-series broadcast or print promotion, community education such as distribution of self-help cessation materials, and organization of cessation groups in the community. The series can extend for a period of several weeks to several months, and can be delivered as nightly or weekly segments on news or informational broadcasts, which provide expert advice or peer group experiences on a variety of cessation issues (e.g., dealing with the symptoms of withdrawal).

Based on available scientific evidence, the Task Force found insufficient evidence to assess the effectiveness of cessation series. The available evidence was deemed insufficient on the basis of (1) inadequate comparison populations or groups, and (2) inconsistent results.

*From the following publication:

Task Force on Community Preventive Services. Recommendations regarding interventions to reduce tobacco use and exposure to environmental tobacco smoke. [PDF - 1.46KB] Am J Prev Med 2001;20(2S):10-5.

Review completed: May 2000