Model for implementing cognitive behavioural therapy for smartphone app based smoking cessation program

Smoking cessation programs are widely implemented to assist smokers in the process of quitting smoking. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a psychological approach that is increasingly used in smoking cessation programs. CBT has also been implemented for smoking cessation programs and has been successful in helping smokers to quit. Another advantage of CBT is that it can be combined with different tools and technologies and hence made to deliver effective health intervention programs. The recent advancements in smartphone technologies have been widely explored to develop smoking cessation apps as tools to assist with quitting smoking. However, most existing smartphone apps lack follow-up and adherence to clinical guidelines for treatment. To date, there are no studies which have explored implementing CBT modules into smoking cessation apps. Therefore, there is a need for implementing behavioural change mechanisms in smoking cessation apps to help smokers quit effectively. In this study, we propose a new approach that combines mobile health technology and CBT methods to provide an effective smoking cessation program. The ubiquitous presence of smartphones and the various communication benefits they provide are utilized by our proposed system to provide a CBT paradigm into smoking cessation app systems and hence enhance their success potential. Currently, the proposed system is at the implementation stage, which is soon to be followed by a clinical trial to study the impact of this system on smoking cessation.