A healthy start is a smoke-free start. Offering financial incentives is a novel and highly effective approach to help (expectant) parents quit smoking. As part of a wider project to facilitate implementation in the Dutch setting, we set up a policy lab, assembling policy makers, end-users and other stakeholders. Participants helped develop policy recommendations on the implementation of incentives into the national Smoke-Free Parents program. The recommendations will be disseminated to policy makers and healthcare insurance companies through a policy brief and explainer video.

This study aims to develop policy recommendations towards the implementation of financial incentives into the Dutch Smoke-free Parents program for (expectant) parents by collaborating with stakeholders in a policy lab.

Our primary goals are:

1. Establishing a policy lab to identify challenges and opportunities for implementation of financial incentives to support smoking cessation among (expectant) parents. Two policy lab sessions were successfully organized—one in October 2024 (online via Microsoft Teams) and one in November (in-person at Erasmus MC), with 12 engaged participants from a wide variety of stakeholder organizations.
2. Developing and disseminating a policy brief and explainer video. Both the policy brief and explainer video have been produced; dissemination is planned after an additional study evaluation impact of the video on public support.
3. Exploring the potential for a policy lab advisory board. While a formal advisory board was not established, policy lab participants remain involved in the publication and dissemination phase and are open to further engagement.
4. Publishing study results in an academic journal. A manuscript is in preparation, with submission planned by the end of 2025.

Follow-up

The next step after this project is to pilot the implementation of financial incentives within the Smoke-Free Parents program, incorporating the recommendations from the policy lab. Additionally, we received an extra grant from the Erasmus Initiative Smarter Choices for Better Health to evaluate the impact of the explainer video on public support for financial incentives. This study will be conducted among 2,000 participants from the LISS panel and will compare responses to different versions of the video. Findings from this evaluation will further inform how best to communicate the rationale and effectiveness of financial incentives to the public and policymakers.