News and Events
We All Have a Role in Promoting Tobacco Cessation in Our Community
By: Michael Potter, Health Educator Consultant, Columbia County Health Department
March 8, 2018
At the end of every quarter, The Columbia County Tobacco Prevention Newsletter finds its way to a variety of community members, business owners, elected officials, professionals, students, and families with generations of history. While it may be easy to point out the differences in between these factions, I am reminded of James 4:17, which states that “all who understand what is good for themselves and others should act upon it.”
The Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation’s work on “Tobacco 21”, addendums to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, and new tobacco enforcement regulations for our local public housing authority residents are actions that will strengthen our efforts without question. However, there is still room for improvement on both sides of the aisle.
A 2007 study of 910 adults who were being screened to become community health influencers found that 90% of participants were motivated to help tobacco users quit. However, only an average of 59% could identify core tobacco cessation intervention concepts, and even less were confident in their own ability to help someone quit tobacco(1). Therefore, understanding the basics of tobacco use, who it effects, and how you can help others is vital to our county’s health:
- Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States(2,3).
- Tobacco use is the leading cause of lung cancer, the leading cause of COPD, and is a major causation for cardiovascular disease(2,3).
- Uninsured citizens are 150% more likely to use tobacco than those with health insurance(4).
- In 2015, 68% of tobacco users said they would like to or were interested in quitting. That is over 24 million Americans saying they wanted to stop using tobacco(2)!
Just three brief minutes of focused tobacco cessation conversation can greatly increase chances of someone quitting(1). Here are five easy steps you can take to intervene and help others(5):
- Ask: If there is someone in your life who you suspect or know uses tobacco, ask them about their previous attempts to quit. Are they currently attempting to quit? When was their last attempt?
- Assess: Just as we all use the new year as motivation, gauge their willingness to quit. Are they receptive to the conversation? How do they feel about their most previous attempt?
- Assist: With permission, offer what you know on tobacco use! Whatever information you choose, try your best to make your conversation relevant and personalized to the individual.
- Arrange: With permission, you can help arrange tobacco cessation services through Suwannee River Adult Health Education Center (SRAHEC) at (866) 341-2730. Through this number they can be connected with Tobacco Free Florida or SRAHEC’s own cessation services. Both offer quit plan support, cessation counseling from specialists, and Nicotine Replacement Therapies.
- Follow-up: Tobacco users may only quit for one day. Some have tried to quit 100 times. Wherever your conversation leads the individual, take the time to check back in with their status.
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References
- Campbell, J., Mays, M. Z., Yuan, N. P., & Muramoto, M. L. (2007). Who are health influencers? Characterizing a sample of tobacco cessation interveners. American Journal of Health Behavior, 31(2), 181-192.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2016). Tobacco-related mortality. CDC Fact Sheet-tobacco Related Mortality Smoking and Tobacco Use. Available online: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/
tobacco_related_mortality/index. htm (accessed on 1 August 2013). - Garcia, M. C. (2017). Reducing potentially excess deaths from the five leading causes of death in the rural United States. MMWR. Surveillance Summaries, 66.
- Foley, K. L., Pockey, J. R., Helme, D. W., Song, E. Y., Stewart, K., Jones, C., ... & Sutfin, E. L. (2012). Integrating evidence-based tobacco cessation interventions in free medical clinics: opportunities and challenges. Health promotion practice, 13(5), 687-695.
- Fiore, M. C., Goplerud, E., & Schroeder, S. A. (2012). The Joint Commission's new tobacco-cessation measures—will hospitals do the right thing?. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(13), 1172-1174.