New program helps smokers kick habit

  • Published
  • By Nick Stubbs
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  For smokers looking to kick the habit, nothing could be more useful than a little guardian angel sitting on their shoulder, keeping track each time they reach for a smoke, taking notes and reviewing the results with them each week.

Although not angels, health and wellness center officials here said they are hoping for some heavenly results from a smart cigarette case with an Internet link that will use its microprocessor brain to track the user's smoking habit and chart it on a computer. Once the data is collected, a smoking cessation plan is formulated, with the ultimate goal to wean smokers off tobacco.

The device, called SmokeSignals, is a plastic box with a digital readout on its lid. Any size cigarette box can fit inside the box. Each time the lid is opened, the electronic counter adds one to the tally, officials said. The smoker periodically plugs the box into a standard phone line, and the data is loaded onto a Web site, and a personal Web page is set up for the smoker to view and track his or her smoking habits and progress in the program.

The HAWC staff purchased 50 of the devices and recently began distributing them to students of the smoking cessation course.

Clinical studies show the device is effective, but MacDill health officials will be evaluating them to ensure they are a good fit with the HAWC program, said Joan Craft, HAWC director. If they prove useful, they will become an important tool in all future smoking cessation courses, she said.

The concept is to change smokers’ behavior by being a constant reminder of the number of times they smoke and when they smoke, Ms. Craft said. The device is programmed to allow only a certain number of cigarettes per day and at certain times. While a smoker might be used to lighting up right after lunch, the device might indicate that he or she is not due for a cigarette for another two hours or so.

Eventually, smokers learn they do not have to be slaves to their own smoking patterns and, ultimately, the smoking habit itself, Ms. Craft said.

"It’s behavior modification training that creates a direct disconnect from the triggers (that prompt smokers to reach for a cigarette)," said Capt. Diane Klingenberg of the HAWC.

Eventually, smokers believe they can delay smoking, and then they realize they can delay smoking indefinitely, she said.

Each device has to be electronically activated for the individual, and a personal Web page is established where the smoker's data is stored, charted and used as a measuring stick by the smoker. The process is designed to create a game-like scenario in which the smoker can strive to beat the chart and reduce the number of cigarettes he or she smokes. Ms. Craft said it might be hard for some to give up their SmokeSignals and the interaction with the program, the camaraderie among fellow users and the friendly competition that ensues as everyone tries to "beat the box."

"This is how they win this game: They quit smoking," Ms. Craft said. "They quit smoking and the prize is they get to live longer, healthier lives."

Ms. Craft said that statistics show smoking is on the rise, particularly among younger people. The good news is with devices like this and traditional assistance from HAWC officials, smokers have more tools than ever to kick the habit.

"Smoking is the No. 1 modifiable health risk factor," Ms. Craft said. "It is one thing we can control in our lives if we want to."

The devices cost about $130 each, with an additional $50 to activate them for the user. The cost is covered for active-duty and retired military and their eligible family members as well as Department of Defense employees.