Smoking Cessation

Cigarette smoking can have a significant impact on patients’ health.  The materials listed below, part of VHCF’s Nurse Practitioner Roundtable on Smoking Cessation, provide NPs with smoking cessation materials and strategies for use with their patients.

The Virginia Department of Health provides invaluable assistance to those interesting in kicking the habit through Quit Now Virginia.  Assistance includes a 24-hour toll-free helpline, counseling sessions and informative materials to help Virginians lose the tobacco habit.

Smoking Cost Calculators: Cost calculators make it easy to demonstrate to patients that smoking isn’t just bad for their health, but also bad for their wallets. A few of the sites take into account local taxes and tobacco product type – cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigars etc. The American Cancer Association breaks down cost per day, week, year, and lifetime.

Education Materials and Other Resources: The American Cancer Society has excellent resources on smoking cessation, including

The American Heart Association offers Quitting Smoking for Good brochures free of charge. The brochures complement the site’s extensive online resources including the following downloadable documents:

The American Lung Association provides several informative patient education tools including:

Nicotine Anonymous “is a Non-Profit 12 Step Fellowship of men and women helping each other live nicotine-free lives. Nicotine Anonymous welcomes all those seeking freedom from nicotine addiction, including those using cessation programs and nicotine withdrawal aids”. In addition to free resources and information the Nicotine Anonymous site also has a “find a meeting” link.

Resources in Spanish

  • American Heart Association’s, How Can I Quit Smoking? (Español) Respuestas del Corazon
  • The American Academy of Family Physicians website has an online catalog of smoking cessation tools in Spanish (brochures, posters, and stickers). All materials are available free of charge to AAFP members.
  • The Latino Mental Health Research Program at San Francisco General Hospital offers an online Spanish/English smoking cessation program. The program is free and aims to recruit people from all over the world with a special emphasis on Spanish-speaking Latinos who live in the United States.

Smoking Cessation Medications

All of the brand name medications have informational websites and links to additional smoking cessation resources. A couple of the sites also offer valuable coupons (NicoDerm and Nicorette). Chantix is available for free through The Pharmacy Connection Program.

Smokefree.gov has downloadable resources and articles in addition to a listing of smoking cessation studies and clinical trials by state. The majority of the studies offer free medication and some financial compensation.

If you know of a resource or tool that you think should be included on this page, please contact a VHCF program officer at 804/828-5804.