Chestnut Global Partners (CGP) and CS2day Announce Positive Results of Smoking Cessation Program Adapted for Employee Populations in China
Bloomington, IL (PRWEB) July 29, 2015 -- Chestnut Global Partners (CGP), a provider of culturally-aware employee assistance and wellness programs to companies worldwide, today announced a study demonstrating the positive results of an evidence-based smoking cessation program it implemented in China in partnership with Cease Smoking Today (CS2day), an education initiative designed by the CS2day partners (eight organizations, listed below) to provide physicians and health care professionals with effective and clinically relevant strategies to increase smoking quit rates. The study showed that, after a 90-day follow-up, those who had completed the program were more likely to remain abstinent, or stop smoking daily and have lower levels of nicotine dependence than those who had dropped out. The objective of the study was to adapt an evidence-based smoking cessation intervention developed by CS2Day to the Chinese context and evaluate the effectiveness of this intervention in China, the world's largest population of smokers.
According to the World Health Organization's Global Adult Tobacco Survey, China has more than 300 million smokers; China consumes a third of the world's cigarettes. Despite government efforts, there has been almost no reduction in the male smoking rate from 2002 to 2010. Even the recent ban on public smoking has had little effect, given how culturally ingrained the habit has become and the wavering of Chinese authorities who have come to rely on tax revenues generated by cigarette sales. Moreover, anti-tobacco campaigners in China say many smokers are simply unaware of the health risks of their habit.
CGP's program consisted of recommending medication and psychological counseling to those employees seeking EAP services who were also screened for smoking. EAP (mental health) counselors based in CGP’s Beijing office received training on the CS2day program, whose input was instrumental in adapting and delivering the intervention to their Chinese employee clients. An empirical program evaluation examined the intervention's effectiveness in helping clients quit or reduce the amount of smoking and nicotine dependence. This is the first known smoking cessation program in China that was embedded within an EAP offering to Chinese employers and their employees.
"The health problems stemming from first and second-hand smoking have long gone unaddressed as even Chinese health care providers are insufficiently aware of the correlation," said Chris Larrison, Project Manager for CS2day. "This lack of awareness, combined with the depth and breadth of the problem, and lax enforcement of public smoking bans, make smoking cessation a tremendous challenge across the country. The study showed that intervention programs that have been proven effective in the United States and placed in a Chinese cultural and workplace context, will increase awareness of the health implications of smoking, and steadily promote cessation, across all segments of Chinese society.
This study was supported by an educational grant from Pfizer, Inc. A summary of our methodology and findings can be found at: chestnutglobalpartners.org/publications.
About Chestnut Global Partners
Chestnut Global Partners (CGP) is a behavioral health organization based in Bloomington, IL that offers a full range of culturally aware employee assistance and related workplace services. CGP combines EAP with wellness, disability, high risk maternity, employees safety and compliance management programs, designed to promote employee well-being, improve performance and reduce absenteeism.
Chestnut Global Partners serves companies in over 140 countries, including Brazil, China, India, Mexico and Russia, as well as companies across Central Europe. CGP also supports Native American Tribes and Casinos in North America. Chestnut Global Partners’ Division of Commercial Science develops and deploys scientific assessment technologies, outcome measures, and analytical methodologies so that EAPs, wellness companies, disease management entities and purchasers the world over can determine the effects and/or worth of their programs. For more, visit http://www.chestnutglobalpartners.org.
About Cease Smoking Today (CS2day)
Cease Smoking Today (CS2day) is a multi-organizational education initiative designed to provide physicians and health care professionals with effective and clinically relevant strategies targeted to increase the smoking quit rates for patients followed in multiple practice settings. The CS2day project began in the United States in 2007 to disseminate information from the Public Health Service Clinical Practice Guideline: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence 2008 Update. The initial educational effort reached more than 43,000 clinicians from all 50 states and 10 foreign countries via certified education and derivative resources consisting of more than 130 live activities, four comprehensive performance improvement projects, 15 enduring activities, three educational exhibits, and a toolkit comprised of 83 educational resources. Outcomes demonstrated changes in knowledge, behavior, and patient health proving that multifaceted education can impact public health. CS2day partners include: California Academy of Family Physicians; Forefront Collaboration (formerly CME Enterprise); Healthcare Performance Consulting, Inc., Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association; Physicians Institute for Excellence in Medicine; Telligen; University of Virginia, Office of CME; and University of Wisconsin, Office of Continuing Professional Development.
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Charles Epstein, BackBone, http://www.backboneinc.com, (561) 470-0965, [email protected]
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