Queens Quits helps smokers kick habit

If you want to quit smoking, there are many free options out there. Whether you prefer one-on-one counseling or mail-order gum, leaving Queens will not be necessary.
Since 2005, Queens Quits - one of the New York State Department of Health Tobacco Control Program Cessation Networks - has been organizing provider education about cessation treatment.
“We reach out to Queens-based providers to help them implement the best practices as described in the public health service guidelines,” said Lisa Marini, Director of Queens Quits. “[The guidelines] indicate that intervention has a strong impact.”
Queens Quits is a partnership between the Queens Health Network (QHN), which includes Queens Hospital Center (QHC) and Elmhurst Hospital Center (EHC), the American Cancer Society and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Throughout the year, Training Leaders at each hospital hold meetings to educate doctors about different treatments.
“The goal of this is to have providers driving their patients to the appropriate referrals,” Marini explained.
Helene Benjamin, Director of the Smoking Cessation Program at QHC, said the experts train hospital staff by helping them understand the nature of the addiction and what function it serves.
“We’re here to give them the tools to quit,” Benjamin said. “Society is busy shaming them,” but providers must “understand why this is such a hard habit to break.”
Both hospitals offer free individual, group and phone counseling as well as over-the-counter Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), including nicotine gum, lozenges and patches. After an evaluation, doctors may also prescribe nasal sprays, nicotine inhalers and pills.
“There are no barriers to treatment, no cost,” said David Weissman, Director of the Smoking Cessation Program at Elmhurst Hospital Center, one of the largest smoking cessation programs in the state. “All someone needs is the desire to stop smoking and we take them the rest of the way.”
EHC has a unique “30-minutes-to-treatment” initiative for new patients. As soon as someone walks in and inquires about the smoking cessation program, they get started on a very aggressive program, according to Weissman.
“The goal is to make it so easy for people to stop smoking that there is really no excuse,” he said.
Meanwhile, Benjamin, a licensed clinical social worker, believes effective treatment must “focus on the positives, help people to make changes…because how you define the problem will determine how you solve it.”
The New York State Smokers Quitline (1-866-NY-QUITS) is a telephone counseling service that runs from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and offers a free “tip of the day,” 24 hours a day.
In addition, a common feature at both hospitals is the “Fax to Quit” form, which asks patients to specify which of 11 languages they would prefer to receive counseling. “It is a proactive way for the provider to ask Quitline to call that patient,” said Marini, adding that the volume of calls from Queens - nearly 1,000 per month - has been remarkably high.
Both Quitline and Queens Quits give referrals. Benjamin emphasized that callers do not have to be trying to quit in order to get a referral.
“They don’t have to be ready to quit; they could just be thinking about it,” she said. “We welcome people, whatever stage they’re at. We help them to get ready, to develop the confidence and the skills to do it.”