In this assignment, I will be addressing cigarette smoking as a health hazard. My elder brother is a heavy cigarette smoker, which has affected him so much health wise. Just like many other smokers, quitting this deadly habit has proved to be an uphill task for him; he has tried many times to stop smoking, but keeps going back to the same old habit within a few days or weeks. After reading Sam Byers’s article on The New York Times “I Was Too Clever to Quit Smoking”, other literature on health defects related to smoking and attending a briefing by the Center for Disease Control, I found out that despite the constraints of quitting smoking, an individual could stop the habit and completely avoid it.
I have chosen the support program as discussed below to assist my brother quit smoking. This support program entails a process that would take up to one month.
- Help him develop an honest list of all the things he likes about smoking. Then the things he hates about smoking and the things his friends and family hate about this habit
- Help him develop another list of why quitting won’t be easy and options for overcoming each entry
- Set a quit date together and make it a signed contract
- In an index card, list down the reasons for quitting and ensure that he keeps the card with him all the time
- Reduce the buying of cigarettes to a few packets and carry only two or three with him at a time
- Develop a list of things to do when craving hits
- When the quit date arrives, remove anything that reminds him of smoking such as left over cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays, holders and the car lighter (Carr, 2010)
- Develop a list of new habits to substitute smoking such as playing solitaire instead of a cigarette break, take a cup of tea whenever he usually has cigarettes, develop a nut habit to engage the hands and mouth, or carry flavored toothpicks
- Help him get some oat extract from a health food store. I learnt that taking a millimeter four times daily help smokers significantly decrease the number of cigarettes the smoke (Byers, 2013)
- Help him inform the whole family, friends and coworkers about this change of habit and develop a routine change
- Develop a list of the effects of tobacco and pin it in strategic places in his house where he can always read them
- Finally, help him find other important things to do with the money he used for buying tobacco
In case of a relapse, help him analyze the mistakes and build on them. Encourage him if he slips and smokes in the process of the therapy. Additionally, I will keep reminding him of the success we have achieved in every stage of the process in order to avoid relapse (CDC n.d.).
References:
Byers S. (June 14, 2013). I Was Too Clever to Quit Smoking. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/magazine/i-was-too-clever-to-quit-smoking.html?_r=0
Center for Disease Control (n.d). Smoking & Tobacco Use: Quit Tips. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/how_to_quit/quit_tips/index.htm
Carr A. (2010). The Easy Way to Stop Smoking. New York City: Sterling Publishing Company, Incorporated.
