{"id":110066,"date":"2026-08-03T11:53:52","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T11:53:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=110066"},"modified":"2026-08-03T12:13:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T12:13:43","slug":"uri-researcher-co-authors-recommendations-on-discussing-electronic-cigarettes-with-adults-who-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2026\/08\/uri-researcher-co-authors-recommendations-on-discussing-electronic-cigarettes-with-adults-who-smoke\/","title":{"rendered":"URI researcher co-authors recommendations on discussing electronic cigarettes with adults who smoke"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 August 3, 2026 \u2013 Patricia Cioe, professor and associate dean for research and scholarship at the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing<\/a>, is the only nurse scientist among a group of leading tobacco researchers from the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Treatment Network who published recommendations encouraging health care providers to discuss nicotine electronic cigarettes as a potential option for adults who smoke cigarettes and are unable or unwilling to quit smoking using traditional cessation methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recommendations are detailed in a peer-reviewed article in the scientific journal JAMA<\/em><\/a> published on July 30.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
Patricia Cioe, professor and associate dean for research and scholarship at the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing. (Photo courtesy Patricia Cioe)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The article emphasizes patient-centered discussions and are intended for adults who smoke\u2014not for youth or individuals who do not use tobacco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Cioe, the publication reflects more than two decades of clinical practice and 10 years of research focused on reducing the devastating health consequences of combustible cigarette smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a nurse practitioner and primary care provider in Rhode Island for more than 20 years, Cioe has prescribed FDA-approved smoking cessation medications and counseled hundreds of patients about the health benefits of quitting smoking. Yet it wasn\u2019t until she conducted a qualitative research study exploring the lived experiences of adults who smoked every day that changed how she thought about tobacco harm reduction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study participants described the extraordinary challenges of quitting smoking. Some reported making as many as 14 unsuccessful quit attempts despite being highly motivated to quit, while others expressed ambivalence about stopping smoking even though they understood the associated health risks. These conversations highlighted the reality that nicotine dependence is highly complex and that existing cessation approaches are not effective for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cListening to patients changed my perspective,\u201d said Cioe. \u201cMany people desperately wanted to quit but tried repeatedly without success. Others simply were not ready to quit. As a clinician and researcher, I realized we need to meet patients where they are and have evidence-based conversations about all available options that may reduce the harms of continued cigarette smoking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new recommendations in the JAMA<\/em> article encourage clinicians to engage in shared decision-making with adults who smoke, including discussing nicotine electronic cigarettes as one potential option for individuals who have been unable or unwilling to quit smoking with conventional approaches. The authors emphasize that completely stopping combustible cigarette smoking remains the best way to reduce smoking-related disease, and that a transition to electronic cigarettes should involve completely replacing cigarettes rather than using both products long term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Patricia Cioe<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Patricia Cioe is professor and associate dean for research and scholarship at the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing. Cioe\u2019s research program focuses on developing and evaluating interventions to reduce tobacco-related disease among populations disproportionately affected by cigarette smoking, including people living with HIV. Her work seeks to generate rigorous scientific evidence that informs clinical practice while recognizing that successful tobacco treatment requires individualized, patient-centered care. Her research has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and other federal agencies.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 August 3, 2026 \u2013 Patricia Cioe, professor and associate dean for research and scholarship at the University of Rhode Island College of Nursing, is the only nurse scientist among a group of leading tobacco researchers from the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Treatment Network who published recommendations encouraging health care […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":110067,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[56,1908,1905],"class_list":["post-110066","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-nursing","tag-faculty-excellence","tag-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110066","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110066"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110066\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":110070,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110066\/revisions\/110070"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/110067"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110066"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110066"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110066"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}