Planning key to kicking
the habit for good
Telling people to quit smoking is easy. Helping them through the process is a little more difficult.
 |
Call our new hotline at
414-8309 to learn more about quitting from Respiratory Therapist Sharon Varricchio. |
Now Shore Memorial Hospital is doing both.
Respiratory Therapist Sharon Varricchio, who joined the staff last November, has kicked off a new Choose to be Tobacco Free program. Activities include a series of free group sessions, in addition to a hotline anyone can call for more information.
“I’ve been doing tobacco cessation for 20 years,” Varricchio said. Back then “the belief was that it took three days to get the nicotine out of your system. Now we know it’s a true addiction. Our approach to smoking cessation is completely different.”
Many who try to kick the habit are motivated by health concerns. The harm from smoking is nearly boundless. Tobacco use contributes to everything from cardiac disease to respiratory problems to diabetes.
For years, Shore Memorial Hospital has done a good job telling patients who have smoked in the past year why they should kick the habit. “We address issues like how to quit, and worry about weight gain,” said Betty Hrubes, director of cardiopulmonary services.
Now patients will also receive information about the new hotline. Those who dial in will get information from Varricchio about how to take the next step.
“Choose to be Tobacco Free is an intrinsic program, meaning it helps people find the internal motivation that is the most successful,” said Varricchio, who is also a certified health coach.
Throughout the year she will plan group sessions to focus on aids that can help people kick the habit. Varricchio will help each person come up with an individualized plan. Meanwhile, group members will give each other much-needed support. “It’s very interactive,” Varricchio said. “You just need to talk it out with somebody else.”
Planning is crucial to quitting, according to Varricchio. In fact, she advocates for the Stages of Change model that includes pre-contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action and motivation. “Everybody who wants to lose weight or stop smoking is in one of these stages,” she said.
Her goal for Choose to be Tobacco Free is to help people move from one level to another. Not everyone in the program is actually ready to quit yet – and Varricchio doesn’t push them. “If I can get them on their way from contemplation to preparing, it’s the goal of the program,” she said.
Varricchio, a 25-year respiratory therapist who has worked at hospitals in Michigan and Indiana before moving the Shore last year, remembers one woman who had smoked for years. “During the course of the program she realized one of the reasons she smoked was to get back at her husband – because he wanted her to quit,” she said.
Insight can be a key. “Smoking is complex,” Varricchio said. “It’s a social habit. You form good friendships going out to smoke. It’s also usually the way most people who smoke handle their stress.”
To learn more about the program, call the Choose to be Tobacco Free hotline at 414-8309.
|
