Smiling Instead of Smoking: An app to help non-daily smokers quit

Around a quarter of people who smoke are non-daily smokers (those that smoke on some but not all days), and that number is increasing. The cancer risk of non-daily smoking is significant and existing treatments tend not to be tailored to this population. To address this issue, Bettina Hoeppner, PhD, an experimental psychologist and Associate Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, has developed a smartphone app, “Smiling Instead of Smoking,” to support non-daily smokers in quitting smoking. It serves “as a behavioral, in-the-pocket coach and uses positive psychology exercises to enhance quitting success.” 4:00 – What are “non-daily smokers?” Why is this a thing? 5:40 – Health risks of non-daily smoking 6:51 – Populations that are more at risk, and why they may be more likely to be non-daily smokers 9:31 – Barriers to quitting that are unique to non-daily smokers 12:05 – Why she uses a smart phone app in her research to help non-daily smokers quit smoking 14:28 – How her “Smiling Instead of Smoking” app works 18:07 – Why she chose happiness as an approach; how positive psychology is a promising new approach to smoking cessation 22:03 – On positive early returns her team has seen from the app—confidence in quitting increased, urge to smoke decreased, and perceptions of smoking became less positive 25:40 – On the potential to reach vulnerable populations with this app 28:13 – The impact American Cancer Society funding had on her career, taking a chance on funding work that was perceived as high risk 30:03 – A message she’d like to share with cancer survivors and caregivers