Idaho State University’s Wellness Center and Southeastern Idaho Public Health are putting on a six session “Free Yourself from Smoking” seminar on campus this semester.
The seminar began Tuesday, Jan. 29, at 6:30 p.m. in Rendezvous Room 209.
“We approach in a comprehensive program that builds to the next night, which builds to the next night and so on,” said tobacco cessation coordinator Traci Lambson. “It’s not something where you can pick and choose which classes to go to.”
The seminar sessions go over the types of nicotine addiction.
“Some things we go over is how smoking, or any type of tobacco abuse, is a physical, psychological and social addiction,” said Lambson.
One of the features of the course is that Lambson brings in professionals with knowledge in the body’s reaction to the addictive chemical, nicotine.
“We brought in a physician’s assistant from Portneuf Medical Center,” said Lambson. “She was able to come and talk about what your brain looks like before that first cigarette and how it is now.”
One aspect of the course is to log your smoking habits.
“We have our students take record of their smoking history over the course of two weeks for what time they’re smoking, the intensity level of it, and what emotion is tied to their smoking,” said Lambson. “After they’ve done that smoking history, they’ll be able to develop a plan of action called a quit plan, where they can come up with an alternative and substitute for each one of those behaviors.”
Using counseling or medication can make changes to quit smoking more effective, and to use counseling and medication in conjunction can be even more effective according the American Lung Association.
The third night of the seminar is the night where the students quit smoking. They do this together so that everyone is on the same stages of withdrawals.
“We use the buddy system in this seminar so that everyone has a partner that they can check in with, keep them accountable and ask how they’re doing,” said Lambson. “We have people in there who are husband and wife, mother and son and it’s really nice to see people with a supportive environment already when walking into the class.”
Lambson says the seminar is particularly important to host right now.
“It seemed like a perfect fit to offer the seminar to ISU students, staff and faculty, especially with the new smoking ban,” said Lambson.
No late entry is permitted due to the building block nature of the seminar, however other options may still be available.
Southeastern Public Health will be sponsoring a similar seminar this spring but a date has not been set yet. For more information or to reserve a spot in the seminar, contact Traci Lambson at 478-6316.