TOBACCO CESSATION SERVICES

Quitting smoking can be a difficult decision to make, especially on your own. The Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living (TFL) offers several state-wide services to provide counseling and support to people ready to quit.

The Tobacco Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW provides free and confidential advice and support to Louisiana residents, ages 13 and older, ready to quit smoking. Certified counseling is available in English and Spanish, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to help callers kick the habit and improve the quality of their lives.

Freedom From Smoking Clinics, created by the American Lung Association, offer free, walk-in assistance to those who want to quit smoking and prefer a group approach. Certified smoking cessation facilitators lead the eight-session, five-week program and give participants class instruction and supplementary materials to develop their own quitting plan.

The Tobacco Control Initiative (TCI) implements and evaluates multi-level tobacco cessation services in Louisianas 10 public hospitals. TCI combines behavioral counseling, social support and pharmacotherapy at each hospital to assist patients in their effort to discontinue tobacco use with evidence-based treatment.

Through the Make Yours a Fresh Start Family (MYFSF) program and the Rapides Tobacco Control Initiative, TFL offers training to physicians and other healthcare professionals to help mothers quit smoking through one-on-one counseling during regularly scheduled appointments. Women in the perinatal period are more likely to be willing to quit smoking, so it is a perfect time for provider-initiated intervention.