Darlene “Dar” Raether looks over data on the UW-PASS study at the Dean Clinic-Sun Prairie, where she is the clinic manager. Raether said she’s pleased with progress so far.

A routine doctor’s appointment can now transform the lives of smokers, thanks to the UW-Partnership to Assist and Serve Smokers (UW-PASS). When individuals visit their healthcare provider at the Dean Clinic-Sun Prairie, they are asked during pre-examination if they smoke. If the patient answers “yes,” the clinical staff discusses the opportunity to participate in the study, which helps participants to quit or change their smoking. 

“We are pleasantly surprised at the number of patients that say yes,” said Darlene “Dar” Raether, a clinic manager at Dean Clinic-Sun Prairie. Thus far, 42 individuals have participated in UW-PASS at Dean Clinic-Sun Prairie.

Information gathered by the clinical staff is sent to UW-PASS health counselors. “The collaboration has been phenomenal here,” Raether said. “I think it brings the research aspect to the clinical setting. The (UW-PASS staff) has been exceptionally easy to work with. They interact well with the patients. I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

“I think having a very formalized process has perks for patients,” Raether said. UW-PASS researchers are hoping to learn more about what is effective for individuals who aren’t interested in quitting or cutting down, what helps individuals make a quit attempt and what helps people stay quit so that more effective treatments can be developed.

UW-CTRI is partnering with three healthcare systems—Dean Clinic, MercyCare Health System and Aurora Health Care—for the UW-PASS study, thanks to a $9-million federal grant from the National Cancer Institute. The study’s primary objectives are to find a cessation package that can be tailored for any individual and to reveal various means to motivate people to quit.

“With any kind of behavioral modification process patients are a little weary,” said Raether. “Patients are motivated by different factors, whether it is the free medication or better health.”

UW-PASS began the pilot study at Dean Clinic-Sun Prairie in the internal medicine clinic and has just recently expanded to the larger family medicine clinic. The study is comprised of three different projects. Project 1 concentrates on increasing smoker’s motivation to quit. Participants in this project do not have to be ready to quit smoking. Project 2 uses a combination of coaching and nicotine-replacement medication treatments to help participants quit smoking. Project 3 monitors patients to make sure they take the quit-smoking medications for the prescribed period and at the appropriate dosage. For more on UW-PASS, click here.