The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) mass media campaign Tips from Former Smokers effectively reduces cigarette use, according to a study published last month in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The Vermont Department of Health began airing Tips television spots across Vermont in 2013 and is currently running two Tips ads statewide—“Amanda” and “Shawn.”
Tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States, but about 81,000 Vermonters smoke cigarettes and hundreds of Vermonters die each year from tobacco-related diseases. In 2012, 62% of all Vermont smokers, totaling 51,000 people, attempted to quit.
802Quits provides Vermonters with advice, tips, tools, and stories to help them quit smoking. Go to 802Quits.org for resources and information on the four ways to get help, including the Vermont Quit Partners, a team of people in communities across Vermont devoted to providing support and motivation to help Vermont tobacco users through the quitting process. The Franklin and Grand Isle Counties Quit Partner is Chari Andersen, RN. Call or email her (524-8480 or[email protected]) to start your quit process today.
The CDC launched Tips from Former Smokers nationwide in 2012 and the campaign was responsible for an estimated 100,000 smokers quitting permanently. The study also calculated the 2012 campaign contributed to averting about 17,000 premature deaths across the United States.
The Health Department’s comprehensive tobacco cessation outreach, including the Tips broadcast ads, contributed to a greater than 100% increase in total number of calls to Vermont’s Quitline in 2013 compared to the 2004 – 2012 call volume. In 2014, the number of coaching calls completed by Vermont’s low socioeconomic smoking population likewise increased over 100% compared to 2013.
To learn more about the Tips campaign and to watch the television spots, visit http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/.
[January 6, 2015, St. Albans, VT] —Northwestern Medical Center