There are so many ways to try to quit smoking, but researchers may have found the most effective.
A new study, which was conducted by the CVS Health Research Institute in collaboration with Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, suggests that employees may be more prone to quit smoking if their paychecks are affected, according to the website immortal.org.
“This study is one of the first to compare incentive programs that first require deposits and programs that entail pure rewards to promote healthy behavior,” stated the study’s lead author Dr. Scott Halpern.
“The results are fully consistent with the behavioral theory that people are typically more motivated to avoid losses than to seek gains. Although the need to make monetary deposits deters some people from participating, deposit-requiring incentive programs can produce robust, long-term results in helping to change complex health behaviors.”
For the study, 2,538 participants were offered care for smoking cessation, including information about local resources and free access to a behavioral-modification program and nicotine-replacement therapy, according to the news outlet Medical News Today.
The results for the group of participants placed with this care alone were reportedly compared to the results of those that were assigned an additional offer of financial incentive paid at various stages of their attempt to quit smoking.
Researchers reportedly found that incentive based programs that require people to invest their own money are less affective than reward-based programs of similar value.
“As we think about novel approaches to smoke cessation, these findings provide evidence that financial incentives can be a powerful motivator,” stated one of the study’s authors Dr. Troyen Brennan.
