Back to the Tobacco Law Center home page

Tobacco Cessation News

March 17, 2010

Children exposed in utero to tobacco smoke have higher rates of asthma

A new study presented at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology’s annual meeting reports that children of different ethnicities whose mothers smoke while pregnant are nearly six times more likely to develop persistent asthma. Immunologists report that exposure in utero alters the development of the immune system at a significant stage of development, which can lead down the path to more allergies and asthma. The study was one of several presented at the conference that suggests that asthma risk is more closely impacted by in utero exposure to chemicals than postnatal exposure.

Read more about the fetal secondhand smoke exposure study.

New Facebook application aims to help smokers quit

WeQuit, a charity based in the UK, has launched a Facebook application that hopes to motivate smokers to quit in a fun, social way. The application, which was launched to coincide with the UK’s No Smoking Day on March 10, provides cessation tips, allows users to network with others who are trying to quit and also raise money for charity in the process. Facebook users sign up for the free application and can quit smoking themselves or challenge others to quit smoking and provide incentives along the way.

Learn more about the Facebook cessation application.

» News archive

original feedTobacco Cessation News RSS feed

Employment opportunity

Public Health Educator

New publications

In this third issue of Cessation Benefits Focus, we focus on how to design a tobacco cessation benefit with the goal of increasing the likelihood that plan participants will use the benefit and succeed in quitting. This issue addresses the key components of a comprehensive cessation benefit, benefit costs, calculation of return-on-investment (ROI), and benefit design, including sample SPD language, and includes two, one-page fact sheets—one on tobacco cessation counseling and the other on tobacco cessation medications.

Cessation Benefits Focus October 2009

» Read the October 2009 issue of Cessation Benefits Focus PDF, 1.06 Mb

 

 

An overview of tobacco cessation medications» An overview of tobacco cessation medications PDF, 1314 Kb

 

 

An overview of tobacco cessation counseling» An overview of tobacco cessation counseling PDF, 112 Kb

 

 

WorkSHIFTS Presents at the National Conference on Tobacco or Health

WorkSHIFTS recently presented at the 2009 National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH), held in Phoenix, Arizona on June 10 – 12.  NCTOH brings together a diverse array of leaders in the tobacco control community including health care providers, advocates, policymakers, public health practitioners, and legal experts.  Bernie Hesse, UFCW Local 789, and Alison Moore, WorkSHIFTS staff member, presented a poster highlighting the efforts of WorkSHIFTS to address smoking cessation in the labor community.  The presentation, Influencing Taft-Hartley Funds to Provide and Promote Tobacco Cessation Benefits, described findings from a previous research study investigating health benefit decision-making among Taft-Hartley Health and Welfare Funds.  For more information about the presentation, please feel free to contact Alison Moore at alison.moore@wmitchell.edu or Susan Weisman at susan.weisman@wmitchell.edu.

WorkSHIFTS poster» View the WorkSHIFTS poster, "Influencing Taft-Hartley Funds to Provide and Promote Tobacco Cessation Benefits" PDF, 5.46 Mb

 

 

Alison Moore

Bernie Hesse

About WorkSHIFTS

WorkSHIFTS is a program of the Tobacco Law Center, working with the labor community in Minnesota to provide education, training, and technical assistance to Minnesota workers and labor management about the health risks and economic consequences of tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke in the workplace.

WorkSHIFTS key activities include:

  • Actively involving labor leaders in the development of educational, training, and resource materials that inform their coworkers about health, safety, and economic issues related to tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace.
  • Providing training for labor leaders so they can share with union members information about tobacco, its relationship to other workplace toxins, the benefits of quitting smoking, how these concerns can be addressed with voluntary workplace smoke-free initiatives, collective bargaining, and other mechanisms to produce policy changes.
  • Providing resources for labor and management to develop workplace tobacco policies that improve and protect the health of employees, including cessation coverage and tobacco-free workplace campus policies.
  • Working closely with labor unions, public health organizations, and others in Minnesota and beyond that share a commitment to worker health and safety and seek to protect workers and safeguard their rights.
  • Engaging in community-academic research that supports evidence-based policiies to improve health and reduce the harm of tobacco use among blue-collar workers.
     

WorkSHIFTS is funded by ClearWay Minnesota.