Dear Chebeague Island Residents:

I am currently in a doctoral nursing program and will soon be implementing my capstone project on smoking cessation.

This eight to ten week project seeks to help the participants quit and maintain abstinence from smoking cigarettes using evidence-based medicine. It entails recruiting participants aged 18 to 65. As part of this project, the participants will be provided education about smoking and the medications currently FDA approved to aid in smoking cessation, and will then be asked to choose which of the products, Varenicline (Chantix) or Nicotine Replacement Therapy and/or Bupropion SR, they would like to use to quit smoking.

The participants will next be prescribed (barring any contraindications) their chosen product, and they will be closely monitored over 10 weeks. Please note that the participant's chosen medication(s) will be paid for through the participant's insurance coverage or private payment, and that the project coordinator (me) will not provide financial support to obtain the chosen smoking cessation medication. I will be following the participants weekly via e-mail or telephone call and have two in-person meetings with the volunteers at weeks 4 and 8 of the project. The volunteer’s primary care provider will be informed of their participant’s participation in this project so that closed loop communication will be maintained.

If you wish to participate in this project, you are welcomed to e-mail me at silvac@mercyme.com or visit http://quitsmokingproject.wordpress.com for more information. The project is tentatively scheduled to be implemented at Mercy Hospital on State Street on May 14th in the lower auditorium at 10 AM. However, for those island residents in which transportation is an issue, I will be happy to provide the project’s orientation on Chebeague Island. This project is limited to 40 participants, so sign up now to ensure participation.

Thank you and I look forward to helping you quit smoking cigarettes.

Sincerely,

Christopher Silva, FNP-C