Other ways to search: Events Calendar | UTHSC

UTHSC Releases New iPhone App to Help Smokers Quit

|

The Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has released a new iPhone App to help smokers break the smoking habit permanently.

The Department of Preventive Medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has released a new iPhone App to help smokers break the smoking habit permanently. The Quit Forever App, developed by UTHSC smoking-cessation experts, is a complete program based on years of research. The app offers easy step-by-step instructions and proven strategies that help smokers stop smoking and stay tobacco free for life. The app explains factors such as how to:

deal with tension,
take FDA approved smoking cessation medicines,
move beyond triggers that lead to smoking, and
connect with support services like telephone-quit lines and on-line help.

“The app is our way of translating what we know works to promote health into social media and technology trends of today,” said Karen C. Johnson, MD, MPH, professor and interim chair of the UTHSC Department of Preventive Medicine. “We can reach a broad population using the app, and the easy-to-follow steps are time-savers for busy people who really want to permanently quit smoking.”

Using the app along with FDA-approved smoking-cessation medicine makes it easier for anyone to quit smoking, not just temporarily, but forever. The “My Health” section of the app provides important information about the health benefits of quitting and the health effects of cigarette smoke, including the effects of second-hand smoke. When preparing to quit, the app section titled, “My 5 A Plan,” explains how to survive the first days as a nonsmoker using the words: avoid, alter, alternate, anticipate and activate. The “My 5 A Plan” is just one of the easily remembered strategies to help smokers fight various smoking triggers and stay tobacco-free.

The iPhone Quit Smoking App is available through the iTunes store, https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quit-forever/id438607134?mt=8, and it can also be accessed through Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quit-Smoking-Forever-iPhone-App/135198179887020?sk=wall&filter=2.