I quit!
(Smoking, that is)

By Art Edelstein
Correspondent
Monday, March 31, 2003

After 30 years, Johnnie Turner has stopped smoking.

The 45-year-old extruder operator with Belden Wire and Cable in Essex kicked his habit with the help of his employer. Turner, who has been nicotine-free for more than a month, took part in a series of smoking cessation workshops at his worksite.

"I've tried to quit several times, but cigarettes are a drug and an addiction," he said.

The workshops are part of the Worksite Cessation Program begun last year by the Vermont Department of Health. The program places Workplace Smoking Cessation Kits in participating businesses.

The kits come in bright yellow plastic cases that resemble tool boxes and contain brochures on smoking-related topics, stress-reduction aids, stress-education audio tapes and other aids to stop smoking.

Last March the kits were distributed to Vermont's 14 hospital tobacco cessation coordinators, said Karen Garbarino, the tobacco control chief at the Health Department. The coordinators, in turn, distributed the kits to employers in their communities. More than 50 businesses in Chittenden County have participated in the program.
Workplace focus




In 2002, the Health Department spent about $600,000 on promoting cessation, which included television, radio and print advertising, and other events and venues to promote the quit-smoking message and availability of resources to help, Garbarino said. "The worksite cessation initiative represents a very small fraction of that cost," she said.

The department decided on the workplace approach because people spend a lot of time at work, Garbarino said.

"It's a good place for messages and people need support when they try to stop smoking, and during work is a good time," she said. "It's hard to go to a smoking cessation class after work with all we have to do and the extra cost of finding child care."

Health Department statistics show 22 percent of Vermont's adult population, about 96,000 people, smoke.

"There is an immediate cost-saving to a company through a cessation program," said Evelyn Sikorski, the tobacco specialist cessation coordinator at Fletcher Allen Health Care. "The costs incurred directly related to illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, and respiratory problems result in absenteeism and long-term disabilities."

Stopping smoking is difficult, said Sikorski, who conducts cessation classes at the workplace.

"Many people are apprehensive to think they can quit smoking after many years," she said. "Our message is that support is important when you quit."

Because more and more companies are instituting tobacco-free policies in the workplace, smokers will be affected, she said. The workplace kits and the cessation classes can help.

"Most businesses are taking a responsible approach to helping people stop smoking," Sikorski said. "It's the No. 1 thing you can do to improve your health status."
At Belden



Belden, a manufacturer of communication cable with 160 employees, joined the program after employees expressed interest in quitting smoking, said Luke Dowley in the human resources department.

Belden held a wellness event last fall and the Health Department brought smoking cessation information to the event.

Belden eventually held two smoking cessation classes with three participants each. Three employees have quit smoking as a result. While employees received no compensation to attend, Dowley said the company paid the $10 class fee and all out-of-pocket costs for the three people who completed the program and stopped smoking. This amounted to more than $300 per person.

It's money well-spent, Dowley said. "The company helped people quit. Our employees feel better and they are happier. That is the bottom line. You want your employees to feel good about where they work."
Only if asked




Gardener's Supply in Burlington has also used the smoking cessation kit, said Kit Howe in the human resources department. The garden supply company already maintains a smoke-free building.

"Non-smoking is not part of our policy and we don't target smokers in our wellness programs," she said. "We coach or counsel if they ask for help."

Howe said she keeps the kit in her office and uses it only when employees express interest in its contents.

"We have found that smokers quit when something in their lives tells them it's time to quit," she said. "I've handed out stress balls, chewing gum and Lifesavers, which are supplied in the kit."

Green Mountain Power Corp. in Colchester is gearing up to start a smoking cessation program that will use the kit in April. GMP, the state's second largest power company, has 200 employees statewide.

"We are working to be smoke-free in 2004," said Deidre Johnson, the human resources manager. "The bottom line is it's bad for them."

The company allows employees to smoke outside its buildings.

"Rather than telling them they can't smoke, this year we are doing everything we can to help them stop," she said. "We realize everyone is different. Some need counselors, some classes on site. We need to offer as broad a choice as we can for people to stop."

Johnson said she found out about the smoking cessation workshops and the kit from a news release and then contacted Sikorski at Fletcher Allen in February.

Johnson, like Dowley at Belden, is not concerned with the cost of the program or with the low percentage of employees who actually quit smoking.

"Anything we spend will more than pay for itself in savings on health-care costs down the road," she said.

GMP will reimburse its employees for whatever costs they incur for cessation-related medicines as long as they stay smoke-free for six months. The company will also pay a bonus of $150.

"If we have one person stop it will be a successful program," Johnson said. "We will have helped a person have better health. To me it's money well-spent."