Results Current evidence indicates that incentives can be effective in driving health behaviour change under certain provisos , while a number of misgivings continue to be deliberated on .
Conclusion These key principles can assist policy makers in making decisions on the use of financial incentives directed at achieving improvements in public health
Background The use of financial incentives or pay-for-performance programs for health care providers has triggered emerging interest in the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change .
Purpose This paper aims to identify key conditions under which the use of financial incentives for improvements in public health outcomes is most likely to be effective and appropriate .
A pilot study on voucher-based incentives to promote abstinence from cigarette smoking during pregnancy and postpartum.
We report results from a pilot study examining the use of vouchers redeemable for retail items as incentives for smoking cessation during pregnancy and postpartum . Of 100 study -eligible women who were still smoking upon entering prenatal care , 58 were recruited from university-based and community obstetric practice s to participate in a smoking cessation study . Participants were assigned to either contingent or noncontingent voucher conditions . Vouchers were available during pregnancy and for 12 weeks postpartum . In the contingent condition , vouchers were earned for biochemically verified smoking abstinence . In the noncontingent condition , vouchers were earned independent of smoking status . Abstinence monitoring and associated voucher delivery was conducted daily during the initial 5 days of the cessation effort , gradually decreased to every other week antepartum , increased to once weekly during the initial 4 weeks postpartum , and then decreased again to every other week for the remaining 8 weeks of the postpartum intervention period . Contingent vouchers increased 7-day point-prevalence abstinence at the end-of-pregnancy ( 37 % vs. 9 % ) and 12-week postpartum ( 33 % vs. 0 % ) assessment s. That effect was sustained through the 24-week postpartum assessment ( 27 % vs. 0 % ) , which was 12 weeks after discontinuation of the voucher program . Total mean voucher earnings across antepartum and postpartum were 397 US dollars ( SD=414 US dollars ) and 313 US dollars ( SD=142 dollars ) in the contingent and noncontingent conditions , respectively . The magnitude of these treatment effects exceed levels typically observed with pregnant and recently postpartum smokers , and the maintenance of effects through 24 weeks postpartum extends the duration beyond those reported previously
Results Current evidence indicates that incentives can be effective in driving health behaviour change under certain provisos , while a number of misgivings continue to be deliberated on .
Conclusion These key principles can assist policy makers in making decisions on the use of financial incentives directed at achieving improvements in public health
Background The use of financial incentives or pay-for-performance programs for health care providers has triggered emerging interest in the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change .
Purpose This paper aims to identify key conditions under which the use of financial incentives for improvements in public health outcomes is most likely to be effective and appropriate .