Session 1 – Decide to Quit

Overview & Purpose

This session provides an introduction to the American Cancer Society Freshstart® program. During the session, the facilitator will educate participants about nicotine addiction and review many health concerns related to smoking. Immediate rewards of quitting, including improving one’s health, saving money, and gaining social acceptance, will also be discussed. In addition, there will be an activity that helps participants determine if they are ready to quit.

Participant

Objectives

/ ü  Introduce the Freshstart (FS) program.
ü  Understand basic nicotine addiction.
ü  Examine how smoking affects your health and other reasons to quit, including how smoking affects those around you.
ü  Learn immediate and long-term benefits of quitting.
ü  Introduce two behavior change models and how ambivalence plays a role when trying to quit. /

Facilitator Materials Needed

·  PowerPoint slides (or minimally, slides with notes view)
·  Freshstart Participant Guide
·  Icebreaker activity (if desired)
·  Pens/pencils

Facilitator

Steps

/ 1. If you can project a computer screen image, play the American Cancer Society Powerful Choices – Quit Smoking Now podcast, also located in the FS Facilitators Corner on the FS Materials page.
2. Introduce the Freshstart program, including the length, days/times, and locations of future sessions. Distribute the Freshstart participant guides.
3. Provide an opportunity for participants to introduce themselves and share smoking history/background (e.g., include an ice breaker activity, if desired and time allows).
4. Walk through the PowerPoint slides with the group. If you do not have a computer available, print out the slides, including the notes, and use them as a guide or walk through the key points of the participant guide.
5. Briefly introduce the Session 2 objectives and activities for the next group meeting.

Activity

/ Decide if you will quit smoking or keep smoking (pages 8-9).
During this activity, participants will look at their reasons to stop smoking. The goal of this activity is to help participants weigh the pros and cons of quitting and make a commitment to take action, if they decide it is their time to quit. Remember, even though the goal of Freshstart is to make a quit attempt, if someone decides they are not ready to quit, he/she can still participate in the remaining Freshstart classes. /

Other Resources

·  Desktop Helper - Countdown Clock (or FS Facilitator’s Corner) This computer “widget” allows the user to input a quit date and displays practical support tips for his/her first month as a nonsmoker.
Additional Notes / Session 1 has a fair amount of information to discuss. Check in frequently with participants to keep them engaged in the process. Future sessions include more interactive activities. If Internet access is available, have the acsworkplacesolutions.com and cancer.org Web sites available to answer any participant’s questions.