What’s New with the Great American Smokeout? STAY QUIT MONDAY Quitting is hard and staying quit is even harder. On Thursday, November 20, the American Cancer Society's 33rd Great American Smokeout aims to help the countless Americans who want to break the habit for good with the new Stay Quit Monday initiative.The idea is to reaffirm their Smokeout commitment to living smoke-free on the Monday following their quit date and recommitting each Monday thereafter.
"Studies show a high relapse rate for most first-time quitters and it takes multiple attempts for most smokers to quit for good” says Frances Stillman, Co-director of the Institute for Global Tobacco Control at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “The idea of using each Monday as the day for quitters to reaffirm their smoking cessation goal is a sensible way to stay on track, from Monday to Monday, instead of from 'today to never again.'”
“Stay Quit Monday builds in an opportunity every week to commit to quit smoking and to celebrate the progress people are making toward this goal,” says Peggy Neu, president of the existing Healthy Monday initiative. “We believe that no matter what day a smoker quits—Smokeout Day, New Years or birthdays—recommitting to that resolution every Monday thereafter can do a lot to increase the chance for success.” The Stay Quit Monday campaign is a Healthy Monday project of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and Syracuse University Newhouse School of Public Communications.
Smoking causes more than 15 different types of cancers, cardiovascular disease and stroke.To learn more about how to quit smoking and to prepare to begin a smoke-free life, contact the American Cancer Society's Quitline at 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org. For more resources on quitting smoking and staying quit, visit the Stay Quit Monday page on the Healthy Monday website. |
