Smoking programs at Oklahoma State University help students kick the habit before kicking the bucket.
At OSU, 77 percent of males and 81 percent of females want to quit smoking, according 2007 University Health Services data. OSU has two programs to help tobacco users quit.
The Seretean Wellness Center offers Smoke Stoppers.
Smoke Stoppers is a national program that tries to change tobacco users’ behavior and habits, said Robin Purdie, director of the Seretean Wellness Center.
“The theory is that anyone who ever smoked or used tobacco had to learn how to do it,” Purdie said. “The first drags are never good, so you have to teach yourself how to smoke and how to tolerate it. You have to learn all these things.”
Smoke Stoppers has introductory meetings on the first Monday of every month at 5:15 p.m. in the Seretean Wellness Center. Students interested in the program set quit dates and attend seven meetings, Purdie said. Students meet four times before their quit date and three times after their quit date.
The program focuses on tobacco use as a behavioral problem. Purdie said it becomes a habit for users to pick up a cigarette or smokeless tobacco at certain times of the day.
“You have to break all those habits,” she said. “That’s what Smoke Stoppers attempts to do. You have to recognize your habits.”
Although Smoke Stoppers has a 30 to 36 percent long-term success rate, students have problems quitting because tobacco use is not only addictive but also a habit, Purdie said.
“They have to be committed,” she said. “People will always have ambivalent feelings- ‘I want to quit, but I can’t quit. I need to but I can’t’- those types of things. Half the cigarettes they smoke they love and half they hate. It’s such a complex problem.”
For more information on Smoke Stoppers, call Purdie at (405) 744-6490 or visit http://wellness.okstate.edu/smoking.asp.
University Health Services also offers a program for tobacco users. The Tobacco Use Reduction program is almost a year old, said Yvon Fils-Aime, tobacco health educator.
Smoke Stoppers tackles tobacco use as a behavioral problem, but the Tobacco Use Reduction Program uses doctors and medication options to help students quit.
“The program first identifies who are tobacco users,” Fils-Aime said. “We offer help to them to quit smoking. We ask them about their willingness to quit, and if they say they would like to quit, we offer them the medication option and discuss the benefits of quitting smoking.”
Fils-Aime said the program has more than a 99 percent success rate.
“Of all the students we have, only one has had a relapse,” he said. “The rest have been tobacco-free for the entire time they’ve been enrolled. “
The program uses medications such as Chantix, to help students quit. Seven doctors work with students as well.
Along with medical options, Fils-Aime said students can talk to him when they have problems.
“I personally try to contact every student every month to see how they are doing,” he said. “We try to maintain a monthly contact with them, but we have an open door policy whenever they feel it’s needed. Whenever there is difficulty, we help them in some way.”
For more information, call Fils-Aime at (405) 744-2745.
Also, students can call the Oklahoma Tobacco Helpline, which gives smokers information, one-on-one counseling and local programs for those trying to quit.
Students can call the helpline at 1-800-784-8669 from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m for information or counseling.
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