Conducting a Pilot Study of Effective Smoking Cessation Treatment Interventions for Individuals with Severe Mental Illness Who are Homeless or Vulnerably Housed

The intern will be assisting in the implementation of a research project that is intended to assess the effectiveness of two different smoking reduction/cessation interventions within a population of people with serious mental illness who are vulnerably housed or homeless. The partner agency, the Canadian Mental Health Association Ottawa Branch, is interested in the study, due to the high proportion of the organization’s clients who smoke tobacco, demonstrate nicotine dependency, and express a desire to reduce or cease smoking. At the conclusion of the study, presentations on the findings of the research project will be made by the principle investigator to staff, managers, board of directors, and clients of the partner organization, and highlights of findings will be incorporated into the organization’s annual report. If found to be effective, the approach studied in the present project could be replicated by the partner organization, allowing them to better serve their clients.

Faculty Supervisor:

Tim Aubry

Student:

Partner:

Canadian Mental Health Association (Ottawa)

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

University:

University of Ottawa

Program:

Accelerate