Tobacco Use on Adults Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Tobacco Use on Adults - Essay Example Almost one in four adults in the United States still smokes cigarettes, particularly in the underserved population (Kovner & Knickman, 2011). The success of the programs in Minnesota and Massachusetts can be adapted to help minimize the effect of tobacco use in California. Smoking is the main reason for the development of cardiovascular disease and the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the United States (Vaid et al., 2014). Tobacco use is accountable for more than 480,000 deaths annually in the United States, including a projected 41,000 deaths from secondhand smoke contact (CDC, 2012). Each state in the country has its tobacco cessation programs that aim to promote population health, in the case of Massachusetts and Minnesota; both have been successful in curtailing the prevalence of tobacco use in their community. The purpose of this paper is to identify two present smoking advocacy programs and the characteristics that led to their success. Another purpose of this study is to create a new program for the state of California that utilizes the strengths of the two existing programs that were analyzed. In 2002, the state of Massachusetts created a tobacco cessation program called Quitworks, a smoking referral program that integrates with healthcare organizations, primary care providers, and patients of the state’s smoking cessation quit line. All health plans in Massachusetts collaborate with Quitworks, and in return, Quitworks provides feedback by reporting to each organization and primary care provider. There were an estimated 340 health organizations and primary providers that used Quitworks for eight years after the launching program was launched (Warner, Land, Rodgers, & Keithly, 2012). There are several attributes that led to the success of QuitWorks, including: Provision of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). In a study by the Tobacco Control, smokers are more likely to quit when they are provided with behavioral and