Quabbin Pediatrics Joins Nationwide Smoking Study with American Academy of Pediatrics

WARE — Quabbin Pediatrics in Ware has taken a step toward improving the lives of children and families in the community. It has joined a nationwide study to test the effectiveness of a program to improve pediatric office services by helping parents quit smoking and reducing children’s exposure to secondhand smoke.

Quabbin Pediatrics is one of 20 pediatric offices participating in the cutting-edge study as a part of the Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS) network, the practice-based research network of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).

The program is called CEASE, short for Clinical Effort Against Secondhand Smoke Exposure. As a part of the CEASE program, parents who are interested in quitting tobacco will receive smoking-cessation assistance when they take their children to Quabbin Pediatrics. The staff members at Quabbin Pediatrics are knowledgeable about effective nicotine-replacement medications and referring parents to free telephone services.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is led by physicians and researchers at the AAP, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital and the University of Rochester Medical School.

According to Dr. Kirti Nagpal, “we at Quabbin pediatrics are working toward a goal. We want a community in which our children can grow and thrive without being exposed to the hazards of secondhand smoke. We owe it to our children.”

Because of their regular, frequent contacts with families, pediatricians are uniquely positioned to help parents quit smoking, said Dr. Jonathan Winickoff, principal investigator of the study. “We couldn’t be happier that Quabbin Pediatrics has joined our study team. Tobacco use is a serious health issue for all members of a family. Not only do we hope to reduce children’s exposure to secondhand and thirdhand smoke, but if more parents quit smoking, fewer children will grow up to be smokers. Quabbin Pediatrics has chosen to help its patients by offering this critical support to parents and guardians.”

Baystate Medical Practices— Quabbin Pediatrics provides pediatric and adolescent care at two locations: Baystate Mary Lane Hospital in Ware and 95 Sargent St. in Belchertown. Dr. Kirti Nagpal is the practice coordinator for the CEASE study at Quabbin Pediatrics. For more information about the CEASE program or to make an appointment, call Quabbin Pediatrics (413) 967-2040.