Matching support to your employees’ needs
One way to decide what kinds of support to offer is to look at the options most helpful for smokers at different stages of readiness to quit, then make sure there is at least one supportive option available for each type of smoker.
New ex-smokers
When smokers quit smoking, they may face physical discomfort, weight gain, and stress. The following steps help minimize these obstacles.
 | A smoke-free work environment may help these ex-smokers by eliminating cues to smoke (e.g., seeing others smoke, ash trays). |
| Nicotine replacement therapy reduces withdrawal symptoms. |
| Most smoking cessation programs (self-help or formal) include nutritional information and exercise to help manage weight. |
| Most cessation programs include stress management techniques such as relaxation training, positive imagery, and deep breathing to decrease the anxiety that surrounds quitting smoking. |
| Social support options include periodic aftercare sessions offered by formal programs, toll-free numbers, and supportive messages from the company’s management. |
Many of the people who quit smoking relapse: effective cessation programs (formal or self-help) also should provide employees with knowledge and skills to help prevent a return to smoking.
Employees who are thinking about quitting
and those who want help to quit
Employers can support employees who want to quit by offering (or offering referral to) a variety of kinds of help, including self-help programs, formal cessation programs, counseling from a health care provider, and pharmacological aides. Incentive programs also support smokers’ attempts to quit.
Employees who are not thinking about quitting
Communication may help smokers who are not thinking about quitting consider the benefits of quitting. Options include:
| Providing information through occupational health staff |
| Encouraging use of toll-free number health information lines (1-800-4-CANCER, for example) |
| Placing articles in company newsletters on the benefits of cessation |
| Showing posters and billboards that encourage quit attempts |
| Offering health risk appraisals or other health assessments |
| Participating in national and international campaigns such as the Great American Smokeout (the Thursday before Thanksgiving), National Employee Health and Fitness Day (the third Wednesday in May), Freedom from Smoking Day (July 5), and World No-Tobacco Day (May 31) |
| Offering incentives to quit |
Social support also can encourage smokers to consider quitting. Such support includes the development of environments in both the worksite and the home that support not smoking. Companies should consider offering and paying for smoking cessation programs for both employees and dependents as a means to foster social support.
This page was last updated on May 28, 2003. Copyright © 2003 Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, NC Department of Health and Human Services. All rights reserved. Click here for disclaimer.