With 2019 less than a week away many Wasatch Back residents are crafting New Year’s resolutions. A common one this time of year is a goal to quit smoking, a new initiative from the Utah Department of Health will mean more support for those who want to kick the habit.
Ryan Bartlett of the Utah Department of Health says that their new program trains businesses to provide resources to employees who want to quit.
“Way to Quit is a program that’s committed to helping people quit tobacco through extensive community support and through free tools and resources. It provides people who would like to quit smoking with the resources to quit in their own way and in their own time. What Way to Quit Certified is, and that’s the new program, is it’s Way to Quit except now we’re involving businesses across Utah in the program. We train human resources from different businesses that are willing to partner with us and participate in this program. We train the human resources department about the Way to Quit tools and resources. Then the employees of the various businesses across Utah would be able to have better access to those tools and resources so that they could quit in their own way.”
Bartlett says that 70% of smokers in Utah have a desire to quit smoking.
“These people tend to know what the health risks are. They have family members and friends who are trying to persuade them or help them to quit. The nicotine in the cigarettes and in the other devices that people smoke with is so addictive that it’s just hard to break that habit. It’s something that the longer you smoke the more you kind of build up that addiction and have that desire to continue smoking. Most of these people, the 70 percent, do want to quit this habit because they know that it’s detrimental to their health and wellbeing. The problem is a lot of these people don’t know that there are these resources available to help them quit. This Way to Quit Certified program, is one more way to connect those people with the resources.”
Bartlett also says that Way to Quit Certified makes good business sense.
“Employees who smoke on average miss 59% more days of work each year than their nonsmoking counterparts. Also, it costs businesses as well, employees who do smoke have about two times more lost production time per week than nonsmokers. There’s lost time in working because people who work take smoking breaks and their health tends to be not as great as those who smoke on average. They also tend to miss more work days each year. So, there’s monetary cost, there’s costs in lost work and labor. These are some the places where it would benefit businesses to get involved in this Way to Quit certified. It’s good for both the businesses and for the employees who are working for the businesses.”
Bartlett also notes that vaping and using e-cigarettes do not help those that are trying to quit smoking. Individuals that would like help quitting smoking, or businesses that want to become Way to Quit Certified should send an email to WayToQuit@Utah.gov
