The self-help mail intervention for Smoker´s treatment

Abstract

 In the treatment of the smokers has been increased in the last years the procedures for smoking cessation that result available for all smokers and that, at the same time, imply minimal interventions for the professionals. In this work is made a review of self-help interventions applied to the smoker´s treatment, which use written materials, fundamentally self-help manuals, and are distributed by mail. It is analyzed if variables such as extension, delivery way and/or tailoring of the material, contribute to increase the efficacy of such interventions. The results of the studies do not come out conclusive respect to the benefits from the application of the intervention program through self-help manuals or booklets. About the personalising materials, there is evidence that the most promising strategy seems to be the use of personalized feedback letters. Future studies should delimit the type of smokers that, more probably, get a benefit from a specific modality of self-help intervention.