The Cleveland Department of Public Health will soon offer tobacco cessation classes to residents who want to quit smoking.
An estimated 35% of Cleveland adults smoke, three times higher than the national average. Smoking can lead to cancer and heart disease, which are the top two causes of death in the United States.
Katrese Minor, director of community initiatives at the health department, said the goal of the health department’s community tobacco cessation program is to reach residents who aren’t connected to the city’s health systems.
“We know that people who are connected to hospitals and health systems in our area will use their services to quit [smoking],” Minor said. “We also know there’s a number of people who aren’t connected to those systems and there’s a gap in programs for those individuals who want to quit smoking or need care or support.”
Minor said a few health department employees and Cleveland hospital officials trained to become certified facilitators through the American Lung Association’s Freedom from Smoking course. The course educates facilitators on evidence-based strategies and trains them to host group cessation classes. The training was paid for by Case Western Reserve University.
Minor said since taking those classes, a few members of the health department staff have worked with partner agencies to pilot the program at different community sites in the city, including University Hospitals Glenville Wellness Center, which began offering eight group counseling tobacco prevention sessions over seven weeks starting in January.
“Instead of building up the classes or program and having people come to us, we are creating interest and having people seek us out and share what they hope to receive from the classes with us,” Minor said.
The plan is to begin rolling out the classes in June. Minor said the class size will be limited. Residents interested in more information can fill out the interest form.
