BecomeAnEX.org is not a site to help people break up with their significant others—that is, unless you consider cigarettes to be that important in your life. The American Legacy foundation changed young people's attitudes about tobacco use and now is focusing on helping adults quit smoking. The three-step plan is all about re-learning your life without cigarettes: re-learn habit, re-learn addiction and re-learn support. LGBT people can find support in user-created groups on the site like Gay/Lesbian Quitters of Steel or Rainbow EXSmokers. If you've tried quitting before, you know how important support is to keeping you on track. But like the other two steps, support is only one component of the "EX" plan.
"Quitting smoking is different for everyone, and it has to be on someone's own terms," said Bill Furmanski, senior vice president of collaboration and outreach. "We want to be supportive without being overbearing." EX is a free smoking-cessation program that understands that smokers already know that smoking is bad for them. The program is designed for 18-54 year olds who have tried to quit smoking within the past 12 months.
EX is not about turning your whole life around in one day. "A lot of people don't know what's most likely to help them succeed," said Furmanski. "And there's things that the public health community knows that smokers aren't always aware of and those things are talking to your doctor, using medication, getting behavioral counseling and the idea of social support, which is something that EX provides in those community groups."
The program helps smokers to identify what triggers them to smoke, whether it's drinking coffee; driving to work; or just boredom and stress. "Our research has shown that once smokers understand that they can tackle the problem by putting it into bite-sized pieces, dealing with one trigger at a time, it makes it a more manageable process," said Furmanski.
Identifying and slowly defusing triggers is only the first step, though. EX has partnered with the Mayo Clinic, and experts provide advice through a blog where smokers can ask questions. Dr. Richard Hurt, from Mayo Clinic's Nicotine Dependence Center, explained the re-learning addiction step on the website. Dr. Hurt talks about different medications that can help smokers quit—"medication can double your chances of quitting smoking," according to the site.
The last step, re-learning support, includes not only the strength of friends and family, but also the 300-plus groups that users on the site have created. "It's given people a forum to find others like them and exchange stories and share information," said Furmanski. "The groups are just bubbling up based on what the needs are." The Gay/Lesbian Quitters of Steel group says in its description, "How the hell are we going to be strong enough to fight for the freedoms we deserve if we're killing ourselves by inches by smoking?"
"Smoking in the LGBT community [ happens at ] a significantly higher prevalence than in the mainstream population, and there's a lot of theories about why this is the case and some of which have to do with the stressful lifestyle," said Pamela McCann, an administrator in the Office of LGBT Health at the Chicago Department of Public Health. "Stress is being caused by lack of support from other social groups, families, sometimes it begins even at school." McCann added that the tobacco industry has also specifically targeted the LGBT community.
" [ The American Legacy Foundation ] understands the importance of culturally tailoring programs for different populations," said Furmanski. Although EX is only a broad-based campaign right now, the program has attracted a wide variety of groups. "I imagine that because it's online, there is some level of comfort because people only share the information that they want to share," he added. "One of the things that I think really resonates with people is the idea that it's peer-to-peer."
The EX program is only online, but provides suggestions, tips and expert advice on how to quit for people who already understand that smoking is unhealthy, but need some help to quit. "I think that anything that is going to resonate with the individual is something that we'd love to support," McCann said. "For some individuals, online media is going to be exactly what they need—just because they have access to it, it suits their lifestyle."
To start the program and join the almost 250,000 other EX users in quitting smoking, go to www.becomeanex.org . In the Chicago area, McCann recommends the Howard Brown Health Center, www.howardbrown.org; the Illinois Tobacco Quitline ( 1-866-QUIT-YES ) ; and the Chicago Tobacco Prevention Project, www.lungchicago.org/chicago-tobacco-prevention-project.
