Supporting employees through smoking-cessation programs
There exists a wide range of education and counseling that an employer can offer to motivate employees to quit smoking. In deciding what types of programs, education classes and counseling to offer, employers should consider:
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- Program content (including psychology of quitting, breaking the addiction, support systems, coping with tension, nutrition and avoidance of weight gain, maintenance of cessation, and exercise as a substitute for smoking);
- Techniques for cessation (including gradual weaning, cold turkey, hypnosis, and biofeedback);
- Structure of the program (including education classes, small group meetings, self- help material, computer-assisted instruction, and individual counseling);
- Session length, either intensive or long-term;
- Eligibility for participation (whether for employees only, spouses, and/or other family members);
- Training methods (including print materials, audiovisual aids, demonstrations, skills training, lectures, and group discussion);
- Resources required (including in-house staff, community groups, voluntary agencies, behavioral psychologists, hospitals and for-profit programs); and
- Links with other company wellness programs.
Medical expenses. The costs of programs to help people stop smoking and prescription drugs designed to alleviate nicotine withdrawal now qualify as medical expenses for taxpayers who itemize deductions. This enables employees to obtain reimbursement from their flexible spending accounts for such expenses. However, costs for over-the-counter nicotine gum and patches are not deductible or reimbursable.
Incentives/disincentives. Offering employees incentives to quit smoking is one way companies seek to assist employees in breaking the habit or refraining from the habit, and to cut company health care costs, as well. An opposite approach, which has the same goals, is to offer disincentives to employees who continue to or start to smoke.
A case study. In 2005, Navistar, an Illinois-based truck and engine company, launched a smoking cessation program and, over the next two years, instituted a smoke-free workplace policy. Thanks to their efforts, an 85 percent quit rate for participating employees was achieved, and 80 percent remained smoke-free after one year. Navistar’s smoking cessation program included the following components:
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- Step-by-step guide to help prepare smokers to quit.
- An ongoing smoking cessation behavior change program that included telephonic health coaching, support materials in print and electronic formats, and over-the-counter nicotine replacement products sent to employees’ homes.
- Web site with personalized tools to track progress.
- Hotline for support and encouragement.
- Implementation of a monthly premium charge for smokers (applicable to non-represented and select union employees only) with a new option available in 2008 to change smoking status mid-year.
- Resources available through: Work site medical and behavioral support; and Navistar’s smoking cessation support, Quit Power.
- Prescription tobacco cessation medication at minimal cost (copayment) to employees, introduced in 2006 at three large manufacturing sites with behavior support.
Reprinted with permission. © CCH
<p>A wide range of education and counseling programs can be used by an employer in order to help motivate employees to quit smoking.</p>