The Summit County Health Department is offering a free six-week pilot program for community members interested in cutting down on their tobacco usage. The class, which the University of Colorado developed, is in response to public demand for group-based support systems within the county.
“Research has shown that having these group-based classes is able to help individuals trying to quit by giving them a little bit more opportunity for that, especially because it helps them hold each other accountable, as well as being able to share their life experiences,” explained Matt Wolbach, a health educator with the Summit County Health Department.
The class isn’t only focused on quitting, though. Anyone is welcome to attend, whether they’re looking to quit altogether, cut down on usage, or simply hope to learn more about tobacco’s health effects on the body, Wolbach said.
The six sessions, which will run every Wednesday from 5-6 p.m. starting April 23, focus on changing behavior. Instructors will cover triggers, goal-setting, breathing exercises and more.
“It’s a lot more of defining their values, creating smart goals, different healthy exercises instead of tobacco use, looking internally at how it makes you feel, what you want to accomplish with quitting,” Wolbach said. “It could be that you don’t like the smell anymore. You have kids now. You have an injury and can’t smoke, and it’s expensive, so it could be even just another cost-saving measure. … It’s just a lot of how to say no and being healthy in general.”
Wolbach said the class is meant to be flexible, and interested community members can sign up by emailing [email protected]. Students are also not required to attend all six sessions or register ahead of time to participate.
“If someone can’t make one of the classes because of a scheduling conflict, then I’m also happy to work with them individually to provide those resources that they’re not able to attend that class to receive,” Wolbach added. “We know that the quit process is different for each person, so we want to be as flexible as possible to be able to provide the best benefit for them.”
Most people aren’t able to quit completely on their first try, which is another reason Wolbach said the focus is more on providing a tool kit to help people change behaviors. If someone has tried to quit before or just wants to use tobacco less frequently, the Health Department staff will work with them to see what’s helped in the past and adjust from there.
“Even if someone just wants to reduce, that’s still making a healthier change for their body, so we want to be able to support them too,” Wolbach said. “We don’t want it to be cut-and-dry and tell people, ‘No, you have to quit.’ If they want to use but they want to start reducing it down, we will absolutely support that as well.”
There’s no official cap on the class size, but Wolbach estimated the room where the class will be held can only comfortably accommodate 20 people. However, if there’s a large demand for more spots, Wolbach said the Health Department will likely continue the program and add more classes.
“We know there’s been interest from the community on having something in person because, at the moment, most other resources are usually one-on-one through the Utah Tobacco Quitline,” Wolbach said. “We will also connect all the individuals to the state quit line because they have additional resources, additional counseling, as well as other nicotine replacement therapy that they offer that we can’t. It’s just another, easier way to help start that quit process.”