Display at UHC offers help to those wanting to quit smoking

BRIDGEPORT — The American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout may be over for this year, but United Hospital Center (UHC) continues to try and help people kick the habit.

UHC, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association will have their informative display, with help on how to quit smoking, up for another month. It’s set up across from the UHC cafeteria with many resources.

These include a “no smoking/vaping pledge” that people can pick up and sign.

They can “promise to not smoke or use any tobacco products now and forever” and try to stay away from secondhand smoke. People who take the pledge keep a copy and the hospital keeps a copy.

“I will do my best to encourage people who do smoke or use tobacco product to quit smoking and using tobacco products, and will do my best to support them as they try to quit,” the pledge reads.

Scott Harding of Farmington, a registered nurse or “nurse navigator” at the hospital, spoke about the importance of such a pledge.

“When you sign your name to something, then you’re more apt to stick to it, and it’s something that they fall back on for support,” he said. “And we can get the information from these, and offer our support to these people also and work together to get them to stop smoking.”

Amber Shearer of Fairmont, also a registered nurse or “nurse navigator,” said the display also has a lot of pamphlets and handouts that provide “easy-to-follow tips” to help people quit smoking.

“I think getting the information, the educational resources, is the most important thing to help people know that there is support and there is information out there to help them,” she said.

She said the display is a good starting point for people wanting to give up smoking.

Gretchen Hennigan of Bridgeport, another registered nurse or “nurse navigator,” also thought the display got people off on the right foot.

“It gives the patients a starting point, and they can identify what their needs are, and reach out and we can assist them from there,” she said.

In a news release from UHC, Elizabeth H. Hess, MD, UHC Family Medicine, faculty at UHC Family Medicine Residency, said: “the most important thing smokers can do to improve their health is to quit smoking cigarettes and the use of other forms of tobacco.”

The news release notes that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and it accounts for 29 percent of all cancer deaths.

“In fact, smoking cigarettes contributes to more deaths of Americans than alcohol, car accidents, HIV, guns and illegal drugs combined,” it states. “Smoking not only causes cancer, but it also damages nearly every organ in the body, including the lungs, heart, blood vessels, reproductive organs, mouth, skin, eyes and bones.”

It further states that each year, approximately 20 million American smokers try to quit, representing more than half of the 37.8 million smokers in the U.S, and only about 1.4 million (7 percent) succeed.”

With this display, which is open to the public, UHC is hoping to change that number for the better.

Eric Hrin can be reached at 304-367-2549.