ValueOptions® Launches New Tobacco Cessation Program; “Holistic” Approach Offers Sustained Coaching
NORFOLK, VA – Nov. 10, 2010
To quit smoking is so difficult it has become the subject of jokes: I’m an expert at quitting; I’ve quit 20 times. But unfortunately the health consequences associated with tobacco use is no laughing matter.
Because of this infamously difficult path, ValueOptions® has launched a new tobacco cessation program called “Tobacco: Kick It!” that helps employers help their workers quit. The “Tobacco: Kick It!” program helps people quit tobacco by coming at the problem from several angles: telephonic coaching, nicotine replacement products, educational materials and interactive Web-based tools.
“Tobacco users want to quit, and many try each year, but they need help to quit for good,” said Rich Paul, vice president of ValueOptions’® Health & Performance Solutions. “That help has to address physical, psychological and social issues that reinforce tobacco use.”
Though smokers have been banished from restaurants in most states and pushed to the edge of workplace campuses, one out of five adult Americans still smoke. And regardless of where people smoke, the price of lost productivity and medical expenditures to employers is significant: More than $9,000 per smoker each year.
The ValueOptions® program takes into account that different people face different obstacles and are at varied levels of readiness to quit. While more than 70 percent of smokers want to quit, only 3 to 5 percent of those who try actually remain smoke-free for a year.
ValueOptions® tobacco cessation program gives people the customized support they need to remove barriers that prevent successfully kicking tobacco use.
“ValueOptions® Tobacco: Kick It! Program delivers a wide variety of supports and capitalizes on our expertise in behavior change in order to improve a smoker’s likelihood of trying to quit,” Paul said, “and this time, succeeding.”
About ValueOptions®, Inc.
ValueOptions®, the nation’s largest independent behavioral health and wellness company, manages publicly funded and employer benefit programs that cover 32 million individuals nationwide. Maintaining a national network of more than 127,000 provider locations, we partner with national and regional health plans to deliver superior behavioral health care management for their members. When working directly with employers, we are an industry leader, managing mental health and substance abuse services, employee assistance programs and a wide variety of wellness benefits for organizations of all sizes – including more than 10 percent of the Fortune 500. We also serve both military and civilian employees of the federal government with innovative programs that positively impact daily life. And, we hold public sector contracts in 14 states, providing care management services and an array of cutting-edge, community-based programs to Medicaid-eligible populations. At ValueOptions, we help our clients build a Culture of Health. We help members move down the path to wellness and embrace recovery and resiliency in their daily lives. We help people live their lives to the fullest potential. Visit www.valueoptions.com for more information.
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