|  | Public Health Safety | Smoking

What Are Smoking Cessation Programs

According to the American Heart Association, "Since 1965, more than 49 percent of all adults who have ever smoked have quit." To decrease severe health risks such as heart disease, adults who smoke need to quit. However, this addiction is not easy to stop. This is where smoking cessation programs come into play.

  1. Types of Programs

    • There are two main types of smoking cessation programs, and those are group programs and personal programs. You can build your own personal smoking cessation program if it's something you want to do on your own, or you can join a group program where you'll get support from other smokers trying to quit. These programs are usually led by social workers or other mental health professionals. Some are led by ex-smokers who have been successful in quitting.

    Features

    • It depends on the specific smoking cessation program on what features are provided for the members. Many times there are weekly meetings to get information from professionals and get support from other members. These programs help smokers realize why it's so hard to quit, why they should quit and how to quit. The programs provide information on personal plans to quit smoking and how to manage cravings. They may pair you with another group member for support during the week when the group isn't meeting.

    Personal Program

    • Everyone who is trying to quit smoking needs a personal plan, because each person uses smoking as a crutch for different things. For example, one person may use it to be more comfortable in social situations and another person may use it to decrease stress on a regular basis. Each person would need different plans of action that are personal to his needs.

      You can put together a personal program through talking to a professional, consulting your doctor and finding resources on the internet. You can also put together a personal program with the help of a smoking cessation group program. The leader works with individual group members to determine personal programs.

    Gain Information

    • One of the biggest pieces of group smoking cessation programs is the information that a smoker gets from the program. Members figure out why they smoke and what purpose it serves in their lives. Members are given information about cravings and side effects of quitting smoking such as irritability, nervousness, restlessness and headaches and concrete ways to deal with the side effects.

    Cost

    • Some smoking cessation programs are provided by hospitals or the government and are free for local members. Other programs are private and require payment. Unfortunately, many insurance companies do not pay for smoking cessation programs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The cost usually depends on the specific group program and how many times the group meets.

Smoking - Related Articles