A UCLA-led team of researchers received $3.4 million to find ways of financially incentivizing people to quit smoking, a university press release announced Friday.
The National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, which aims to promote research on drug use and its impact on public health, awarded researchers a five-year grant to study how financial incentives can help end smoking addiction.
The research will focus on promoting sustained abstinence from smoking and improving quality of life for smokers, according to the press release. The research will study low-income smokers at high risk for related health conditions in particular.
The research follows similar incentive programs used by health insurers, employers and governments to motivate changes in behavior.
Hospitalized smokers, who are at higher risk for premature death due to smoking-related health issues, will be enrolled in the research program at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center in Sylmar, California, and Bellevue Hospital in New York City.