ASCO 2017 | Using social media to help treat tobacco addiction

Judith Prochaska, PhD, MPH, of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford, CA, gives a brief overview of her talk at ASCO 2017, which looked at the use of social media and attention to tobacco use. Tobacco use is the global leading preventable cause of death and although there are various evidence based treatments available, there has been a very low reach of engaging smokers out in the community. A more recent alternative way to engage people has been through social media. Dr Prochaska talks about a recent study which uses twitter to create virtual private peer to peer support groups where about 20 people come together and provide each other with support to stop smoking.

Recorded at the American Society of Oncology (ASCO) 2017 Annual Meeting held in Chicago, IL.