Five Ways Digital Health Makes It Easier to Quit Smoking

Published

May 26, 2022

Empowering Health on World No Tobacco Day

May 31st marks the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual World No Tobacco Day. This yearly awareness day informs the public about the dangers of using tobacco and the importance of quitting to help people live a happier, healthier life—at work, at home, and at play.

Everyone knows smoking is bad. It’s bad for your health, bad for employers, and bad for the environment. But one of the biggest challenges for smokers this No Tobacco Day—or any other day—is staying quit. The good news is that digital health and telehealth have opened up a whole new world of possibilities when it comes to quitting smoking.

Here are five ways that digital health is making it easier to kick the habit:

A connected, smartphone, app-based world. Mobile phones and digital devices are everywhere, providing digital access to and interaction with quit-smoking resources and information.
The availability of smartphone-based free and low-cost quit-smoking apps. These digital health apps are low cost or no cost, making them easily accessible and worth a try. However, the technology, support, and results are highly variable with little clinical validation.
Artificial intelligence (AI). AI is here to stay. It makes apps and tools smarter and more interactive. The WHO even has its own chatbot, Florence, who helps guide users on a quit-smoking journey.
Research data. Evidence-based digital health solutions built on clinical studies of effective interventions are becoming mainstream.
Workplace benefits. Highly sophisticated telehealth, virtual addiction therapy, and medication assisted treatment programs are now being offered as an employee benefit or by major healthcare providers.

Even with all these advances and resources, smoking is an addiction. The WHO realizes that tobacco users need help to quit, noting that without cessation support, only 4% of those who try to quit tobacco actually succeed. That’s where Quit Genius—the world's first digital clinic for treating nicotine, alcohol, and opioid addictions—can help.

Building on the ability of digital health to make it easier to quit smoking, our trained human coaches and clinical support make it a highly effective, easy-to-access choice for employers and health plans…a choice that anyone needing a helping hand to quit smoking might want to check out.

Quit Genius is a technology-enabled, live-coach supported, digital health app that can help people quit and stay quit. This virtual clinic offers a Medication-Assisted Treatment program that takes advantage of the latest in digital technology, human coaching support, and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) to change lives, save lives, and create a healthier home or workplace environment. And it’s been proven effective: a recently published randomized controlled trial found the Quit Genius virtual clinic to be more than twice as effective as traditional addiction treatment in getting people to quit smoking.

A real-life example of this success is the story of Ryan, who used the motivational power of his Quit Genius coach and behavioral therapy to kick the habit after more than 16 years.

The U.S. Surgeon General has found that

Regardless of age or duration of smoking, quitting reduces the risk of disease and increases life expectancy.
People who quit have more money to spend on food, housing, health care, children’s education, and other household needs—a powerful motivator in the face of today’s high inflation rates.
Quitting also reduces the risk that families will lose the earning power of working-age adults through tobacco-related disease or death. As a result, quitting smoking benefits the individual, the family, and the community.

As a result, quitting smoking benefits the individual, the family, and the community.

If you’re a human resources manager, benefits manager, or benefits consultant, contact us to find out more about how your team can benefit from a digital health, Medication-Assisted Treatment program that leverages Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and virtual coaching support. If you’re an employee looking for help quitting smoking, check out these Centers for Disease Control and Prevention resources or the WHO Quitting Toolkit, or check if Quit Genius is covered by your employer.