With the on-campus smoking ban to going into effect this coming August, Miami University is offering two seven-week smoking cessation classes for faculty and staff that will be held during the next two months.
Despite the imminent ban, Melissa Tillery, instructor of the Freedom from Smoking program and an American Lung Association certified smoking cessation facilitator from Fort Hamilton Hospital, said that although the class can be a valuable asset, it is ultimately up to the determination of participants whether they quit.
"They have to want to quit on their own," Tillery said.
According to Tillery, program sessions follow a different aspect of the quitting process, with the actual process of quitting beginning in the third week.
"That's when they come into the class and I have a box or a bag or something and they throw all their smoking paraphernalia into it," Tillery said. "And from there on out they're not supposed to smoke anymore."
The class also includes pairing up participants to create a support system.
Tillery said participants are encouraged to call their partner if they feel a craving for a cigarette.
"They say 'I really want to smoke a cigarette, talk me out of it,'" Tillery said. "It's kind of a support system."
Tillery estimated that the success rate of the program is approximately 26 percent and emphasized that not one method works for everyone.
Andrea Batdorf, a smoking cessation adviser at Miami, said that different people need different methods in order to kick the habit, based largely on why people smoke.
In Batdorf's experience, stress is the most common reason people smoke.
"When people are stressed, people have vices to relieve stress, and smoking is their vice," Batdorf said.
Tiller emphasized that the program is effective regardless of how long the participant has smoked.
"One of the guys at another company I did, he had smoked for 50 years, and he has remained smoke free; it's been a year," Tiller said.
Marlene Diers of employee health and well-being, said that the program is also beneficial for those who have recently quit but want extra support.
"Once you've quit and if you quit on your own, depending on what method you used, it may be hard to stay quit if you don't have (the group support)," Diers said.
Although she said the program provides significant support for those who want to quit, Diers acknowledged that the process of quitting can be very difficult.
"It's going to be a challenge I think," Diers said.
Tillery said that most smoking cessation classes have six to eight participants and that she plans to cap the class at 16 people.
Current Miami employees are also eligible for three to eight weeks of nicotine replacement therapy.
The program fee of $80 is waived for all Miami employees, excluding student employees and graduate assistants, as long as they attend six of the seven group sessions. Those who do not meet the registration criteria will be required to pay half the program fee through a payroll deduction.
The program is sponsored by the Employee Health and Well Being center at Fort Hamilton Hospital.
