Home food delivery to help rural Black/African American smokers quit
Official title: FRESH Delivers: An Innovative Approach to Reducing Tobacco Use Among Rural Black/African American Smokers
Funded at Univ of Arkansas for Med Scis · NIH-11137717 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project is testing whether regular home food deliveries help rural Black/African American smokers in the Arkansas Delta stop smoking.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of Arkansas for Med Scis NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Little Rock, United States) |
| Project start | September 24, 2021 |
| Project end | June 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $639,324 |
| NIH project number | 5P50MD017319-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11137717 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adult Black/African American smokers living in rural Arkansas Delta counties, especially those facing food insecurity and interested in quitting, are the ideal candidates.
✕Less likely to help
People who are not interested in quitting smoking, who live outside the targeted rural Arkansas Delta area, or who cannot receive home deliveries are unlikely to benefit directly.
What this research studies
If you join, you would be randomly assigned to one of three groups, and some people will receive regular home food deliveries alongside quit support. The team will track who is able to stop smoking and will measure how cigarette cravings and dependence change over time. They will also compare how well each approach helps recruit and keep people in the program in rural Delta counties. The work is run by the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences with community partners like the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Arkansas and local food organizations.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the approach could raise quit rates and lower cancer risk by combining food support with smoking cessation help.
How similar studies have gone: Some programs linking basic needs support to quitting have shown promise, but using regular home food delivery as a quit aid is relatively new and still being tested.
Where this research is happening
-
Univ of Arkansas for Med Scis
Little Rock, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Fagan, Pebbles — Univ of Arkansas for Med Scis
- Study coordinator: Fagan, Pebbles
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.