Three members of the Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia are co-authors of a peer-reviewed study published in October 2026 in Preventive Medicine, a public health journal from Elsevier. The study reports what 26 people in Atlanta said about smoking, quitting, and the kind of help that works for Hispanic and Latino adults. Their answers are now shaping Vida Sana (“Healthy Living”), a Spanish-language program that pairs mindfulness with text messages to help people quit.
Shirley E. “Bella” Borghi, HHCGA’s Executive Director and Vice Chairman, is the study’s third author. Rafael Bernal and Daniela Benavides Ramirez of HHCGA are co-authors alongside researchers from the Georgia State University School of Public Health, the University of Houston, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Claire A. Spears of Georgia State leads the work. The article went online October 15, 2026, and appears in the journal’s December 2026 issue.
The project began with iQuit Mindfully, a text-message program for quitting smoking built by Dr. Spears and the Mindful Living Lab at Georgia State. It sends interactive messages, short mindfulness recordings, and on-demand tips for handling cravings, stress, and slips. Messages use each person’s first name, their own reasons for quitting, and the money they stand to save. Georgia State reports that up to 35 percent of participants quit after using the tool, compared with about 7 percent in the general population. Until now, the program existed only in English.
In October 2024, Georgia State announced a five-year, $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to adapt iQuit Mindfully for Hispanic and Latino adults in partnership with community organizations. The university’s announcement named HHCGA as one of those partners.
Spanish words on a screen are a start. The research team had evidence that they are only a start. When the National Cancer Institute offered its SmokefreeTXT program in Spanish, Hispanic and Latino users stayed engaged with it. They were also less likely to quit, according to a 2023 analysis the authors cite. Culture, daily stress, family, and access to care all shape what happens after a message arrives.
The stakes are high. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic and Latino men and the second leading cause among Hispanic and Latina women, according to American Cancer Society figures cited in the paper. Hispanic and Latino adults who smoke are less likely than other groups to be advised to quit by a health professional. Nearly all Hispanic and Latino adults in the United States, 98 percent, own a mobile phone, which puts a text message within reach.
After a professional Spanish translation of iQuit Mindfully, a Cultural Adaptation Team took the work into the community. The team brought together bilingual Hispanic and Latino faculty, staff, graduate research assistants, and community partners, with backgrounds that include Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic.
Between 2025 and 2026, the team interviewed 26 people in Atlanta: 7 Hispanic and Latino adults who smoke, 11 who had quit, and 8 key informants. The key informants were three physicians and other health care providers, three medical interpreters, a community leader, and a researcher.
The interviews pointed to three main barriers to quitting: stress, limited access to health care, and routine medical care that gives quitting too little attention. Family and social support stood out as a key help. Participants reviewed the program’s text messages and mindfulness content and responded positively. They also suggested changes to the Spanish wording, along with ideas for offering the program through health care and community settings.
HHCGA joined the project as a community partner, and three of its team members are named authors. The paper credits Bella Borghi with helping conceive the study, shape its methods, conduct the research, analyze the findings, supervise the work, and review and edit the manuscript.
The study gives the adapted program its name, Vida Sana, and readers of this site will recognize it. Vida Sana is also HHCGA’s collection of short Spanish-language mindfulness practices, produced with the Mindful Living Lab and published on hhcga.org in July 2026. Rafael and Daniela guide those practices on video, including urge surfing, a way to ride out a craving until it passes.
Read together, the findings point to four changes, and each one has a practical side for families.
Help to quit should sound like home. Participants asked for Spanish that reads the way people speak. The program is being refined with their suggestions, using relevant and accessible Spanish terms.
Stress needs its own tools. Participants tied smoking closely to stress. Mindfulness gives people a way to notice a craving, breathe, and let it pass without lighting up.
Family belongs in the plan. Family and social support helped people quit. A quit attempt that brings in a spouse, a parent, or a friend starts with backup.
Quitting belongs in routine care. Participants said routine medical care gives smoking too little attention. One question from a patient can open that conversation.
The authors thank the people who shared their personal experiences for this study, and HHCGA adds its own thanks. Their accounts of stress, family, and the hard parts of quitting are shaping a Spanish-language program for the next person ready to try. The research was funded by the CDC and approved by the Georgia State University Institutional Review Board.
The Vida Sana text program is still being refined. Free help is available now.
Call the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line at 1-877-270-STOP (7867), or 1-877-2NO-FUME (1-877-266-3863) for Spanish. You can also text READY to 21586, or LISTO to 21586 for Spanish. The Quit Line is free, open 24 hours a day, and offers free nicotine gum or patches to qualified Georgia residents 18 and older.
Practice urge surfing and explore the full Vida Sana collection. Each practice takes between two and nine minutes.
At your next medical visit, ask your provider about quitting. This study found that routine care gives the subject too little attention, so you can be the one to bring it up.
Spears, C. A., Gonzalez, C., Borghi, S. E., Correa-Fernández, V., Fraire, L., Chilito, C., Wangen, M., Bernal, R., Benavides Ramirez, D., Self-Brown, S., O’Connor, M. H., & Lyn, R. (2026). Cultural adaptation of a digital health intervention for smoking cessation among Hispanic/Latino adults in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Preventive Medicine, 213, 108679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2026.108679
The highlights and abstract below appear exactly as published. Read the full article on ScienceDirect.
Objective. Hispanic/Latino (“H/L”) communities experience high levels of tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. Accessible, culturally appropriate interventions are needed to address barriers to smoking cessation. This qualitative study informed the linguistic and cultural adaptation of a mindfulness-based text messaging intervention for smoking cessation among H/L adults.
Methods. Individual interviews were conducted with H/L adults who currently smoke (n = 7), H/L adults who formerly smoked (n = 11), and other key informants (e.g., healthcare providers, medical translators, n = 8) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States in 2025–2026. Participants were asked about barriers/facilitators to tobacco cessation, intervention acceptability, suggestions for increasing accessibility and cultural relevance, and suggestions for implementation in healthcare and community settings.
Results. Key barriers to smoking cessation among H/L communities include stress, low healthcare access, and inadequate focus on smoking cessation in routine healthcare. Facilitators for smoking cessation include family and social support. Participants gave positive feedback about the intervention materials, including text messages and mindfulness content. They provided suggestions for refining Spanish-language wording and optimizing implementation.
Conclusions. Findings reveal important community insights to improve access to culturally appropriate smoking cessation support for H/L adults. The intervention is being further refined to reflect cultural values and use relevant and accessible Spanish terms to increase impact.
Keywords: Hispanic; Latino; Tobacco use; Smoking cessation; Cultural adaptation; Mindfulness; Digital health
Highlights and abstract reproduced from Preventive Medicine, Volume 213, December 2026. © 2026 Elsevier Inc.
Claire A. Spears, Camelia Gonzalez, Leesly Fraire, Caitlyn Chilito, Shannon Self-Brown, Mary Helen O’Connor, and Rodney Lyn, Georgia State University School of Public Health, Atlanta. Shirley E. “Bella” Borghi, Rafael Bernal, and Daniela Benavides Ramirez, Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia, Alpharetta. Virmarie Correa-Fernández, University of Houston. Mary Wangen, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Stress, limited access to health care, and too little attention to quitting during routine medical care made quitting harder for Hispanic and Latino adults in Atlanta. Family and social support made it easier. Participants responded well to the program’s text messages and mindfulness content and suggested clearer Spanish wording.
In the study, Vida Sana (“Healthy Living”) is the name of the Spanish translation and cultural adaptation of iQuit Mindfully, a mindfulness-based text-message program for quitting smoking. On hhcga.org, Vida Sana is also HHCGA’s collection of short Spanish-language mindfulness practices, produced with the Mindful Living Lab at Georgia State University.
A text-message program from the Mindful Living Lab at Georgia State University. It sends interactive messages, short mindfulness recordings, and on-demand tips for handling cravings, stress, and slips, personalized with each person’s name, reasons for quitting, and projected savings. It was built in English.
Twenty-six people in Atlanta, interviewed in 2025 and 2026: 7 Hispanic and Latino adults who smoke, 11 who had quit, and 8 key informants, including health care providers, medical interpreters, a community leader, and a researcher.
HHCGA is a community partner in the project, named in Georgia State University’s 2024 grant announcement. Bella Borghi, Rafael Bernal, and Daniela Benavides Ramirez of HHCGA are co-authors of the published study.
The program is still being refined after this study. For help quitting now, call the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line at 1-877-270-STOP (7867) or 1-877-2NO-FUME (1-877-266-3863) in Spanish, or text READY or LISTO to 21586.
The highlights and abstract are on this page and free on ScienceDirect. The full article is published by Elsevier in Preventive Medicine at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ypmed.2026.108679. Reading the full text may require a subscription or a one-time purchase.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funded the study through grants U48DP006835 and U48DP006872. The Georgia State University Institutional Review Board approved it.
Georgia State University School of Public Health and its Mindful Living Lab, the University of Houston, and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The highlights and abstract in “Read the published study” are reproduced from Preventive Medicine, © 2026 Elsevier Inc., and are not covered by the notice below.
© 2026 Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia. All rights reserved.
This article, including its text, translations, graphics, and any accompanying materials, is the intellectual property of the Hispanic Health Coalition of Georgia. Please contact HHCGA before reproducing, distributing, republishing, translating, adapting, rewriting, or creating derivative works from this material, in whole or in part, by any means. We share our work readily and grant permission often. We ask only that you reach out first, so that credit stays accurate and the health information reaches people unchanged. Requests: info@hhcga.org.
HHCGA’s Bella Borghi, Rafael Bernal, and Daniela Benavides Ramirez are co-authors of a new study in Preventive Medicine. Interviews with 26 people in Atlanta are shaping Vida Sana, a Spanish-language text program that uses mindfulness to help Latino adults quit smoking.
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