Project SWITCH Study Protocol: A Tobacco-Free Workplace Program for Dissemination and Implementation in Lung Cancer Screening Centers

• Published in: Methods and protocols Vol. 8; no. 4; p. 70
• Main Authors: Siddiqi, Ammar D., Britton, Maggie, Martinez Leal, Isabel, Taing, Matthew, Chen, Tzuan A., Lowenstein, Lisa M., Minnix, Jennifer A., Reitzel, Lorraine R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01.07.2025; MDPI
• Subjects: Beneficiaries; Cancer; Cancer screening; Cigarette smoking; Cigarettes; Computed tomography; Diagnosis; Disease prevention; Drug addiction; Evidence-based medicine; Health aspects; Intervention; Lung cancer; Lung diseases; Medical diagnosis; Medical screening; Medicare; Mental health; Morbidity; Mortality; Oncology, Experimental; Practice guidelines (Medicine); Prevention; Reimbursement; Smoking; Smoking cessation; Study Protocol; Tobacco; tobacco cessation; tobacco-free workplace policy; United States; United States > US; Texas; lung cancer; tobacco cessation; tobacco-free workplace policy; cancer prevention; mixed methods; Texas; smoking; tobacco; intervention; implementation science
• ISSN: 2409-9279; 2409-9279
• DOI: 10.3390/mps8040070

Background/Objectives: Cigarette smoking has been causally linked to 90% of all cases of lung cancer, contributing to its high mortality rate. Lung cancer screening centers offer low-dose computed tomography, the only recommended diagnostic screening tool for lung cancer detection. A previous Texas-based study found that centers with lung cancer screening programs failed to consistently provide evidence-based tobacco cessation and relapse prevention interventions recommended by clinical practice guidelines to their patients, who are primarily people who currently or previously smoked. This represents a missed opportunity to assist patients by providing evidence-based tobacco use care during a particularly relevant clinical encounter. Methods: To improve cigarette smoking cessation care delivery and relapse prevention in this setting, this protocol paper seeks to provide a framework for adapting Taking Texas Tobacco Free, a comprehensive, evidence-based tobacco-free workplace program, to lung cancer screening centers. The adapted program, Project SWITCH, will be developed through a formative evaluation process with center stakeholders to identify proactive adaptations to programming based on center-specific contexts. Project SWITCH is expected to be implemented in at least nine lung cancer screening centers in Texas and will be disseminated more broadly to centers statewide. Results: Quantitative and qualitative data will be collected from multiple stakeholders throughout the intervention using a convergent parallel mixed methods design to make additional program adaptations and comprehensively evaluate the achievement of the project’s implementation and dissemination goals. Conclusions: Results from this project’s implementation and dissemination phases are expected to reduce lung cancer morbidity and mortality in Texas by providing an evidence-based, sustainable framework for tobacco-free workplace programs in this specific setting that improves cancer prevention and control practices.