I came across the Tobacco Prevention page on the Wayne County Public Health website and found that Wayne County has much to offer smokers who are trying to quit. In addition to free counseling and support, the program provides nicotine patch, gum and lozenge starter kits to Wayne County residents, free of charge. The program also offers education material and group courses on smoking cessation. Such courses are taught by Public Health officials and is based on I Can Quit, a program developed
by the University of Pittsburgh. The program involves multiple sessions, designed to encourage smoking cessation by providing participants with essential information
and strategies to assist their efforts.
This course is taught at work and meeting places.
Additionally, Wayne County Public Health offers a smoking cessation program for middle and high schoolers. This program is entitled, The Tobacco Awareness Program (TAP), is designed specifically for an adolescent population and addresses both smoking and smokeless tobacco use. This program offers 8, one-hour, adult led sessions for groups of 8-12 adolescents who want to stop using tobacco. The TAP curriculum helps participants choose cessation methods that they believe will work best for them.
Both of these programs seem to offer much support to Wayne County residents, and I was impressed to find just how committed the programs seemed to be. However, they seem to be only aimed at those residents who already have an interest in quitting smoking. This is a wonderful resource but it does not target smokers who have not yet made the decision to quit. I think this is the population that needs the most attention and the most information on smoking cessation. Smoking is an important issue for physicians to discuss with patients because it can impact health in a significant way. I think it is important for health care providers to educate smokers on the dangers of smoking and equally importantly, the avenues to pursue cessation. As a provider, knowing about the county resources is crucial in most effectively addressing this issue.
http://www.co.wayne.ny.us/Departments/publichlth/tobacco.html
Additionally, Wayne County Public Health offers a smoking cessation program for middle and high schoolers. This program is entitled, The Tobacco Awareness Program (TAP), is designed specifically for an adolescent population and addresses both smoking and smokeless tobacco use. This program offers 8, one-hour, adult led sessions for groups of 8-12 adolescents who want to stop using tobacco. The TAP curriculum helps participants choose cessation methods that they believe will work best for them.
Both of these programs seem to offer much support to Wayne County residents, and I was impressed to find just how committed the programs seemed to be. However, they seem to be only aimed at those residents who already have an interest in quitting smoking. This is a wonderful resource but it does not target smokers who have not yet made the decision to quit. I think this is the population that needs the most attention and the most information on smoking cessation. Smoking is an important issue for physicians to discuss with patients because it can impact health in a significant way. I think it is important for health care providers to educate smokers on the dangers of smoking and equally importantly, the avenues to pursue cessation. As a provider, knowing about the county resources is crucial in most effectively addressing this issue.
http://www.co.wayne.ny.us/Departments/publichlth/tobacco.html
I was most impressed with the accessibility of the program to teenagers. This age group must be very difficult to reach out to. Providing them with a peer group of other teens will make them more comfortable and will provide them with the extra support of seeing other teens trying to quit too. It is great to help adolescents quit before they continue to damage their body for years.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that they should expand their program to target those people that still need the encouragement to make the decision to quit. This is an important group to target and many people just might need that last little push of knowing there is a program willing to help them and resources available to them. It is awesome though that Wayne County is making such an effort to provide these services to the people that need and want them!
I think that multiple sessions, and support groups are key in order to help people stop smoking. I was excited to see that the programs provided the basic starter kits to stop smoking. This is a fantastic and critical part of helping people through the journey to be tobacco-free. I agree that the population that needs the most help are the ones that are not ready to quit, but you also have to remember that everyone must make their own decision in their own time. You cannot force anyone. With that said, I agree that there could be more programs and campaigns aimed to convince people of the need to quit smoking before they damage their bodies to the point of no return.
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