Abstract 35: Early Engagement of Providers and Target Beneficiaries in a Research Grant Application: Lessons Learned from an Implementation Science Project to Optimize Smoking Cessation Program for Lao People with HIV

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Abstract Purpose: In Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Laos), 61%–80% of male people with HIV smoke cigarettes. They face a high risk of having tobacco-related cancers as there is no smoking cessation approach implemented at antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinics. We planned to apply for a United States (US) National Cancer Institute’s U01 grant to implement an evidence-based smoking cessation approach, Ask-Advise-Connect (AAC, asking patients about smoking at every visit, briefly advising those who smoke to quit, and connecting them to treatment) in Lao ART clinics. To prepare for the grant application, we engaged key stakeholders’ participation in implementation brainstorming and planning meetings (IBPM) to discuss an implementation plan and potential challenges. Methods: We conducted 8 IBPMs in 6 provinces/cities across Laos in 2023. Key stakeholders (n = 58) included leaders of Provincial Health Departments, leaders of hospitals that house ART clinics, staff from 8 ART clinics, peer educators, and HIV patients. Results: Local providers confirmed that cigarette smoking was highly prevalent among male ART patients, and that an integrated smoking cessation treatment program was urgently needed. Three hospitals’ leaders expressed their high enthusiasm to implement the proposed cessation strategies to all patients (not just ART patients) in the long term, which helped to refine our grant application’s specific aims and intervention approaches. ART staff’s input that almost all ART patients had a mobile phone number (for clinic staff to contact them about their ART follow-ups) and that 80% had a smartphone reinforced the implementability of the proposed intervention strategies (using a mobile phone app to deliver behavioral intervention messages). Other stakeholders’ challenges and concerns were discussed and addressed with our revised approach, e.g., older or low-income patients without a smartphone (solution: making the printed self-help smoking cessation guide available to all clinics at the end of the study), patients changing clinics for ART (solution: tracking them in the national database), or potential ART clinic staff’s heavy workload (solution: simplifying the connect component in the AAC procedure for clinic staff). Conclusion: By engaging providers’ and patients’ participation early in the grant application planning process, cancer prevention research projects can be more responsive, locally relevant, and potentially sustainable with their buy-ins. Citation Format: Phayvanh Keopaseuth, Thanh C. Bui, Phonepadith Xangsayarath, Khatthanaphone Phandouangsy, Bouathong Simanovong, Khanti Thongkham, Panina Phoumsavanh, Michael S. Businelle, Kea Turner, Jennifer I. Vidrine, Steven K. Sutton, Margaret M. Byrne, Chanthavy Soulaphy, Souphatsone Houatthongkham, Cate M. Moriasi, Tu K. Doan, Damon J. Vidrine. Early Engagement of Providers and Target Beneficiaries in a Research Grant Application: Lessons Learned from an Implementation Science Project to Optimize Smoking Cessation Program for Lao People with HIV [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 13th Annual Symposium on Global Cancer Research; 2025 Sep 16. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2025;34(12_Suppl):Abstract nr 35.

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