Recruiting and Consulting for a National Evidence-Based Trial on Smoking Cessation Care for Pregnant Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women: The SISTAQUIT(TM) Experience

Background: Pregnancy is an important window of opportunity to help smokers quit. Evidence-based, culturally appropriate smoking cessation care (SCC) is required to lower smoking prevalence (45%) among pregnant Indigenous women. Supporting Indigenous smokers to assist quitting (SISTAQUIT), a cluster randomized controlled trial at Aboriginal Medical Services (AMS), compares normal care versus culturally appropriate SCC training to health providers (HPs) to determine if training improves quit outcomes. Little is known about the most effective strategies to recruit AMS research sites. Communication and consultation processes require respectful, culturally appropriate engagement with local protocols, management and leadership.