New State Partnership Aims to Increase Access to Smoking Cessation Resources
/The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) has announced a new partnership with National Jewish Health to offer new Quitline services for Connecticut residents. The Connecticut Quitline provides free tobacco cessation support to all Connecticut residents who want help quitting commercial tobacco, including e-cigarettes.
Services include live telephone coaching, free nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) to eligible adults, and other digital supports including motivational text and email, online chat, and web-based resources. Coaches are trained professionals in tobacco cessation and cultural competence.
Services are available in English and Spanish, with more than 200 additional languages offered through translation services. The Connecticut Quitline is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week by visiting www.committoquitCT.com or calling 1-800-QUIT-NOW for English or 1-855-DEJELO-YA for Spanish.
New Connecticut Quitline services also include a cessation program for teens called My Life, My Quit™ and tailored coaching for pregnant and postpartum persons. New referral options are also available to health care providers interested in referring their patients to the Quitline.
“Though great strides have been made in tobacco prevention and cessation, tobacco continues to negatively impact health and associated healthcare costs in Connecticut,” said DPH Commissioner Manisha Juthani, MD. “DPH is dedicated to increasing access to evidence-based cessation support. Counseling and approved NRT are effective treatments for tobacco use but using them in combination, as offered by the Connecticut Quitline, can double someone’s chances of quitting tobacco and nicotine for good.”
The Connecticut Quitline is currently offering eligible adults up to six weeks of patches, gum, or lozenges, separately or in combination. Officials noted that ccording to the latest data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and the Connecticut Youth Risk Behavior Survey, nearly one in five adults and about one in eight high school students currently use some form of commercial tobacco and many want or have tried to quit.
Officials stress that quitting smoking can be hard, but it is possible. There is more information about the Connecticut Quitline at www.committoquitCT.com or 1-800-QUIT-NOW for English or 1-855-DEJELO-YA for Spanish to enroll in services. Youth and young adults can learn more about quitting and available resources at at www.vapefreeCT.org.
To learn more about the Tobacco Control Program and other available resources, please visit the DPH Tobacco Control Program website at www.ct.gov/dph/tobacco
