I put smoking behind me more than 20 years ago, stubbing out a bummed cigarette and deciding I would never again smoke another. And I haven’t, but I’ve been tempted. Despite everything I know.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States, accounting for more than 480,000 deaths every year, or 1 of every 5 deaths. But those figures don’t necessarily motivate the millions of Americans who still smoke to consider quitting.I am very fortunate in that I quit cigarettes at a relatively young age and did so on my own. While quitting smoking must ultimately be an individual decision, having a crucial support network, or someone unbiased who you can turn to during the inevitable difficult times, is crucial. I think of it as finding the right kind of butting in. And the right person to do it.
Coaching participation measurably impacts healthy behaviorsWe recently conducted research which shows that a personalized approach is needed to drive wellness program participation. This personalized approach to wellness, made possible through our coaches, is leading to measurable changes in participants’ healthy behaviors. Additional research we conducted compared participants who enrolled through a health coach via an in-person session with those who self-enrolled. The study demonstrates that participants enrolled via live sessions stayed in the program longer, had more coaching sessions and, as a result, were more successful in building healthy, sustainable habits.
Our coaches use the Overall Wellness Score—an aggregate measure of individual employee behaviors including nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress and tobacco and biometric values collected through health assessments. In fact, participants who enrolled by a health coach showed a greater improvement in these areas.
In fact, we recently found that coaching participants are 29% more likely to quit using tobacco than non-participants. That’s nearly one-third!
Video: How a health coach helped Warren quit smokingBy way of this video I’d like to introduce you to Warren, who worked with one of our health coaches to successfully quit smoking. Warren doesn’t sugarcoat his experience. He recalls how during the first few months he wanted to give up. Yet Warren recognized he had a coach to talk to who could give him the right type of guidance. Warren remains confident that he’ll never smoke another cigarette.
