Skip to Content
NREPP SAMHSA'S National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices
IMPORTANT LEGACY NOTICE: Legacy Programs have not been reviewed by the current National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices (NREPP). The programs in this database were reviewed only under the previous National Registry of Effective Prevention Programs system. This section is intended to be used for historical reference only. If you would like more information about a program listed here, please contact the program developer directly. The program developer of each Legacy Program listed here agreed to post program information on this site.

Pathways to Change

Brief Program Description

Pathways to Change uses a computer-based program to develop personalized smoking cessation interventions designed to help participants quit smoking.

The Pathways to Change program is built upon the Stages of Change behavioral model. According to the Stages of Change model, there are five stages to behavior change:

Surveys are used to collect participant information that is entered into the computer program. The Pathways to Change program is used to assess participants' place on the Stages of Change model, with regard to a health risk behavior. The computer program then uses the survey information to tailor intervention materials to meet the participants' needs at that stage, and help the progress to the next stage, toward smoking cessation.

Study results, at 6-, 12-, 18-, and 24-month follow-up periods, indicated that people who received the complete intervention smoked less than for those who were in the assessment only condition.

Program Development Support

The National Cancer Institute, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Johnson & Johnson, Inc. provided funding for the research that resulted in the Pathways to Change program.

Contact Information

For indepth information on this program, please use the contact listed below.

Program Developer

James Prochaska, Ph.D.
University of Rhode Island
2 Chafee Road
Kingston, RI 02881-0808
Phone: (401) 874-2830
Fax: (401) 874-5562
Email: jop@uri.edu
Web site: www.uri.edu/research/aprc

In December 2002, this program was designated as an Effective Program under SAMHSA's previous National Registry of Effective Prevention Programs system.