In the news recently was a report from the National Center for Health Statistics stating that the rate of adult smoking was down to 18.0% in 2012, a decrease from 18.9% the previous year and 20.6% in 2009. While this is great progress, it still leaves a substantial number of adults—and your employees—who smoke.
It's common knowledge that smoking comes at a cost to personal health and, consequently, in increased healthcare costs. For smokers, it may also mean higher health insurance premium rates which, on top of higher costs for cigarettes and fewer places where smoking is allowed outside the home, can create powerful incentives for quitting.
There are several good resources for smokers who want to quit, but the resource we recommend the most is the network of North American Quitlines. What are they? As the National Quitline website states:
Quitlines are telephone-based tobacco cessation services that help tobacco users quit. Services offered by quitlines include coaching and counseling, referrals, mailed materials, training to healthcare providers, Web-based services and, in some instances, free medications such as nicotine replacement therapy (NRT).
Much research shows that quitlines are highly effective in helping tobacco users quit. Due to their ability to reach and serve tobacco users, regardless of location, quitlines have quickly spread across North American. Today, residents in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, each U.S. territory, all ten Canadian provinces and two territories have access to public quitline services.
By clicking on the national quitline map you can find the state organizations that offer quitline services for your employees.
There are also many articles on smoking cessation on our work/life website. When using the advanced search functionality and typing in "smoking cessation" there are many articles that address smoking and smoking cessation such as:
We encourage you to guide employees who smoke—and are ready to quit—to these resources. In addition, while we do not supply smoking cessation services, ourselves, we are available 365/24/7 for employees who need additional support in their efforts to quit to speak with a counselor. The payoff can be great in healthier, more productive employees.