Current Projects
Learn more about our ongoing research projects.
Digital Smoking Cessation Treatment
Tobacco & Cannabis Co-Use
Tobacco Messaging Exposure in Older Age
Technology-based treatments can provide free and easily-accessible cessation treatment, yet these types of treatments are rarely developed with older age groups in mind. Our study (IRB-FY2025-132) is currently recruiting and aims to understand how to best deliver app-delivered smoking cessation treatments for older adults. Using semi-structured interviews, we are qualitatively exploring experiences of adults 60+ years who engage with a freely available evidence-based app-delivered treatment for quitting smoking.
As tobacco prevalence has stagnated among older adults for the past 15 years, cannabis use prevalence is rising exponentially in this age group. In research among young adults, co-use (compared to tobacco-only use) is associated with greater difficulty quitting tobacco. Using nationally representative data, we are exploring U.S. rates & sociodemographic characteristics of tobacco and cannabis co-use among older adults. We recently completed qualitative interviews with older adults co-using cigarettes and cannabis to understand how cannabis impacts their ability to quit cigarettes (publication forthcoming).
Older adults are more likely to report misperceptions about the relative harms of tobacco products (e.g,. e-cigarettes are more harmful for than cigarettes). With changing patterns of advertising and media consumption, updated information is needed about the platforms in which older adults receive pro and anti-tobacco messaging. Using nationally representative data, we are evaluating e-cigarette harm beliefs as well as platforms of tobacco messaging exposure among U.S. older adults.