Only 20 minutes after your last cigarette, your heart rate and blood pressure begin to drop. Within a few days, the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to a normal rate. After a few weeks your circulation and lung function improve, and after a year your risk of heart attack drops significantly. These are only some of the drastic changes your body undergoes when you quit smoking, as identified by the American Cancer Society.
Despite the benefits of a smoke-free lifestyle, 15% of residents in America’s 100 largest cities are smokers. Across these cities, nearly 9.7 million people are at a heightened risk of certain cancers and coronary heart disease because of this habit. The Great American Smokeout, presented by the American Cancer Society, is Thursday, November 19, 2020. On this date, Americans are encouraged to make a plan to quit smoking. We have gathered a number of resources here to help you or others in your life make a plan to quit smoking.
Help Someone Else Quit Smoking
Help Employees Stop Smoking | American Lung Association
Smoking-Cessation: Role of the Fitness Professional in Clearing the Air | ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal®
Helping a Smoker Quit: Do’s and Don’ts | American Cancer Society
Support To Quit Smoking
Sign up for support via text message | NIH – National Cancer Institute
Download the quitSTART app | CDC
Call the State Quitline | 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669, English) 855-DÉJELO-YA (855-335-3569, Español)
Call the National Quitline | 877-44U-QUIT (877-448-7848) (support in both English and Spanish)
Smoking Cessation Resources for Veterans | NIH – National Cancer Institute
Freedom From Smoking, Smoking cessation support for public housing | American Lung Association and Anthem Foundation
Smokefree.gov | Resources from the NIH – National Cancer Institute specifically supporting women, teens and seniors.
SmokefreeEspañol | Recursos en español de NIH – Transformación de Descubrimientos de la Salud®
Deciding to Quit Smoking and Making a Plan | American Cancer Society
Other Ways to Quit Smoking | American Cancer Society
Getting Help with the Mental Part of Tobacco Addiction | American Cancer Society
You Can Quit Smoking: Here’s How | CDC
Quitting smoking is tough. But Dorise, a public housing resident in Milwaukee, not only quit with help from the Freedom From Smoking (FFS) program, but also became a champion for others who wish to follow in her footsteps. While the Anthem Foundation has partnered for years with the American Lung Association to help people quit, a smoke-free policy for all public housing locations that went into effect July 31, 2018, prompting the partners to expand the program to help people like Dorise quit smoking for good.
*The Anthem Foundation is the funding partner of the American Fitness Index.
